THE SARCOPLASMIC RETICULUM OF STRIATED MUSCLE OF A CYCLOPOID COPEPOD

Functionally Driven Modulation of Sarcomeric Structure and Membrane Systems in the Fast Muscles of a Copepod (Gaussia princeps)

Muscles of the mesopelagic copepod Gaussia princeps (Arthropoda, Crustacea, Calanoida) are responsible for repetitive movements of feeding and swimming appendages that are too fast to be followed by eye. This article provides a comparative functional and ultrastructural description of five muscles that have different contraction speeds and are located within different anatomical sites. All are very fast, as indicated by a thick:thin filament ratio of 3:1 and sarcomere lengths that vary between 1 and 3 μm. Measured lengths of thin and thick filaments indicate classification of the muscles into three distinct groups (short, medium, and long) and predict a difference in speed of up to threefold between fibers with the shortest and longest sarcomeres. Indeed, the kicking movement of the posterior legs (with the shortest sarcomere length) is approximately threefold faster than the simultaneous back-folding of the antennae (with the longest length). Thus, a specific relationship between speed of movement and sarcomere length is established, and we can use the latter to predict the former. Regulatory systems of contraction (sarcoplasmic reticulum [SR] and transverse [T] tubules) match the different contractile properties, varying in frequency of distribution and overall content in parallel to sarcomere variations. All muscles from appendages and body musculature show a unique disposition of contractile material, SR, and T tubules found only in copepod muscles; muscle filaments are grouped in large supermyofibrils that are riddled with frequent cylindrical shafts containing SR and T tubules. This arrangement insures a high spatial frequency of regulatory components. Anat Rec, 301:2164-2176, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The relationship between form and function throughout the history of excitation-contraction coupling

Franzini-Armstrong reviews the development of the excitation–contraction coupling field over time.

The concept of excitation–contraction coupling is almost as old as Journal of General Physiology. It was understood as early as the 1940s that a series of stereotyped events is responsible for the rapid contraction response of muscle fibers to an initial electrical event at the surface. These early developments, now lost in what seems to be the far past for most young investigators, have provided an endless source of experimental approaches. In this Milestone in Physiology, I describe in detail the experiments and concepts that introduced and established the field of excitation–contraction coupling in skeletal muscle. More recent advances are presented in an abbreviated form, as readers are likely to be familiar with recent work in the field.

Label-free microscopy and stress responses reveal the functional organization of Pseudodiaptomus marinus copepod myofibrils

Pseudodiaptomus marinus copepods are small crustaceans living in estuarine areas endowed with exceptional swimming and adaptative performances. Since the external cuticle acts as an impermeable barrier for most dyes and molecular tools for labeling copepod proteins with fluorescent tags are not available, imaging cellular organelles in these organisms requires label free microscopy. Complementary nonlinear microscopy techniques have been used to investigate the structure and the response of their myofibrils to abrupt changes of temperature or/and salinity. In contrast with previous observations in vertebrates and invertebrates, the flavin autofluorescence which is a signature of mitochondria activity and the Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) pattern assigned to T-tubules overlapped along myofibrils with the second harmonic generation (SHG) striated pattern generated by myosin tails in sarcomeric A bands. Temperature jumps from 18 to 4 °C or salinity jumps from 30 to 15 psu mostly affected flavin autofluorescence. Severe salinity jumps from 30 to 0 psu dismantled myofibril organization with major changes both in the SHG and CARS patterns. After a double stress (from 18 °C/30 psu to 4° C/0 psu) condensed and distended regions appeared within single myofibrils, with flavin autofluorescence bands located between sarcomeric A bands. These results shed light on the interactions between the different functional compartments which provide fast acting excitation-contraction coupling and adequate power supply in copepods muscles.

The ultrastructure of the striated muscles of Derocheilocaris typica (Mystacocarida, Crustacea)

The striated muscles of Derocheilocaris typica consist of mononucleated cells, each containing one filament bundle. Large muscles consist of two or more cells adjacent to each other. The mitochondria line up along the filament bundle on one side. The nucleus is situated in the mitochondrial row and has a small cytoplasmic area around it filled with glycogen. The sarcomeres are between 3 and 6 μm long. The Z-line and H band are present. Six thin filaments surround one thick filament. All muscles belong to the phasic type. The tubular system emanates from the ends of the muscle cell and penetrates the whole cell. The tubules are formed as cisterns, which also open at the cell membrane at the level of the I bands. They have sarcoplasmic cisterns on both sides forming a continuous triad system. Partially transformed epidermal cells mediate muscle insertions on the cuticle. Tendons are formed with the transformed epidermal cells being supplemented by fibroblasts forming collagen fibers. Dorsal and ventral abdominal muscles are innervated from the dorso-lateral nerve arising from the nerve chain. Each muscle cell receives one axon, which forms one synapse on the mitochondrial-free side of the muscles. Axons form terminal spines, which make axo-axonal synapses.

The arrangement and ultrastructure of the musculature, nerves and epidermis, in the tail of the cercaria of Cryptocotyle lingua (Creplin) from Littorina littorea (L.)

The ultrastructure of the caudal muscles of the cercaria of Cryptocotyle lingua is related to the rapid swimming movements. Dorsal and ventral striated longitudinal muscle cells extend in a straight line along the tail length each containing a single myofibril, U-shaped in transverse section and divided into sarcomeres. A-, I- and H-bands are recognizable and the fragmented Z-band consists of a row of dense bars to which the thin myofilaments are attached. A pair of proximal ventro-lateral striated muscles may be responsible for the figure of eight pattern of movement. Large mitochondria are abundant in the non-fibrillar region of the muscle cells. Tubular sarcoplasmic reticulum envelops the myofibril giving off branches at the Z-bands which extend into and across the myofibril alternating with the dense bars. T-tubules are absent but cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum form numerous dyadic junctions with the sarcolemma. Dorsal and ventral motor caudal nerves arise from a nerve plexus behind the tail root; axo-axonal and neuromuscular synapses are frequent. Clear and dense synaptic vesicles occur in the presynaptic terminals.

SARCOPLASMIC RETICULUM: ULTRASTRUCTURE OF THE TRIADIC JUNCTION

The appositional region between the intermediate element and adjacent cisternae in the triads of the sarcoplasmic reticulum of striated muscle from humans, copepods, ostracods, and barnacles shows a five-layered construction similar to that of a tight junction. Known functions of tight junctions and cisternal elements suggest that a membrane depolarization, conducted by the intermediate element, is transmitted to the cisternae by way of the triadic junction to cause a release of calcium ions from the cisternae.

Shape and disposition of clefts, tubules, and sarcoplasmic reticulum in long and short sarcomere fibers of crab and crayfish

The disposition of surface invaginations (clefts, Z and T tubules) and of the sarcoplasmic reticulum has been examined by electron microscopy at three accelerating voltages (100, 200 and 1000 kV) and by phase-contrast light microscopy in crustacean muscles infiltrated by the "Golgi stain." In long-sarcomere, tonic type fibers, an extensive system of invaginating clefts has been observed, along with both Z and T tubules. Z and T tubules form interconnections with each other, but only T tubules form specific contacts with the sarcoplasmic reticulum, which in these fibers forms an extended and continuously fenestrated network. In short-sarcomere, phasic type fibers, a ladder-like disposition of an abundant T network is found. Z tubules are absent in these fibers. The sarcoplasmic reticulum forms more frequent junctions with flattened areas of T tubules and with clefts, but has less extensive free surfaces than in the long-sarcomere fibers.

The ultrastructure of the striated muscle of the tail of Cercaria chackai, nadakal et al., 1969

The electron microscopic study of the tail of Cercaria chackai reveals that it contains four sets of striated muscle bundles located central to the nonstriated circular and longitudinal muscles. The striated muscle consists of longitudinally oriented lamellar myofibres. Each myofibre contains a single "U" shaped myofibril. The banding pattern is analogous to that of vertebrate striated muscle. The sarcolemma is a simple surface membrane. There are no transverse tubular extensions of sarcolemma. The sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) is very well developed with cisternae, tubules, and vesicles. SR cisternae form dyadic couplings with the sarcolemma. There is a set of flattened tubules of SR origin traversing the myofibril exactly at the Z region. These tubules are unique to the striated muscle of the cercarian tail and may have functional significance. A diagrammatic reconstruction of the myofibre is presented.

Sarcoplasmic reticulum of an unusually fast-acting crustacean muscle

The fast-acting, synchronous "remotor" muscle of the lobster second antenna was examined by light and electron microscopy and was found to have a more profuse sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) than any other muscle known. Myofibrils are widely separated from one another and occupy only about one-fourth of the volume of the muscle; most of the remaining volume is taken up by the SR, which resembles the smooth-surfaced reticulum of steroid-secreting cells. Dense granules (0.03-0.1 micro in diameter) are scattered through the reticulum. T-tubules penetrate into the fibers and form dyads along the A bands of myofibrils; however, ferritin-labeling experiments show that the volume of the T-system is very small compared with that of the SR. Myofibrils are approximately 0.5 micro x 1.0 micro in cross section and consist of thick filaments, which appear tubular except at the M region, and thin filaments, which are situated midway between neighboring thick filaments. The ratio of thin to thick filaments is 3:1. The extreme development of the SR in this muscle is discussed in relation to the exceedingly short duration of the contraction-relaxation cycle.

Ultrastructural features of crayfish phasic and tonic muscle fibers

Phasic and tonic muscle fibers from the abdominal extensor muscles of the crayfish, Procambarus clarki and Orconectes virilis, were examined for differences in fine structure with the electron microscope. The myofibrils of the two types of fiber were similar in size as seen in transverse section, unlike those in vertebrate twitch and tonus fibers. The ratio of thin to thick filaments was about 5:1 in tonic fibers and 3:1 in phasic fibers. Neuromuscular synapses in tonic fibers were enclosed by arms of noncontractile sarcoplasm, whereas the synapses seen in phasic fibers lacked this feature.