Higher magnification view of the spongiome of the Contractile Vacuole Complex. The spongiome is composed of a three dimensional array of tubules that are continuous with the CV membrane. Many tubules bear peg-like elements on their cytosolic surfaces reminiscent of the decorated tubules of Paramecium. These pegs are probably V-ATPase proton pumps. TEM taken on 5/1/78 by R. Allen with Hitachi HU11A operating at 75kV. Neg. 18,000X. Bar = 0.2?m. The negative was printed to paper and the image was scanned to Photoshop. This digitized image is available for qualitative analysis. There is a high resolution version of this image in the library (CIL:39795) which is available for quantitative analysis. Additional information available at (http://www5.pbrc.hawaii.edu/allen/).
Biological Process: Contractile vacuole organization
Standard glutaraldehyde fixation followed by osmium tetroxide, dehydrated in alcohol and embedded in an epoxy resin. Microtome sections prepared at approximately 75nm thickness. Additional information available at (http://www5.pbrc.hawaii.edu/allen/).
Author: Richard Allen (University of Hawaii)
Source: The Cell: An Image Library
