THE STRUCTURE OF FLIGHT MUSCLE SARCOSOMES IN THE BLOWFLY CALLIPHORA ERYTHROCEPHALA (DIPTERA)

The electron microscopic structure of sectioned indirect flight muscle fibers of the blowfly Calliphora is described. Particular attention is paid to the organization of the sarcosomes (mitochondria) of this tissue, and this description is accompanied by an account of the appearance of these bodies in negatively stained preparations. In sectioned material, it has been shown that these sarcosomes are similar to other mitochondria in the disposition of the outer and inner limiting membranes, but that the cristae, confluent with the latter, are unusually regular, and form parallel plates, containing circular fenestrations forming cylindrical channels within the matrix. Negatively stained preparations of disrupted sarcosomes reveal that both the outer limiting membrane and the cristae membranes bear large numbers of small particles, similar in appearance to those described by Fernández-Morgán and others in various mitochondria. In Calliphora, these particles consist of a sub-spherical "head" and a cylindrical "stalk," and appear to be arranged on the mitochondrial membranes either randomly distributed, or collected into circular or elongated groups. Recent suggestions concerning the nature of these submitochondrial particles are discussed, and an attempt is made to correlate the aspects of organization of Calliphora sarcosomes, revealed by conventional sectioning of the "intact" structures, and by negative staining of sarcosomal derivatives.