A UNIQUE JUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE FOUND IN BLASTULA CELLS OF THE NEWT, TRITURUS PYRRHOGASTER

The outermost cell layer of the animal half of the newt blastula (Triturus pyrrhogaster) was examined to investigate intercellular junctions by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. A unique structure is observed at the terminal region of the intercellular junction. The structures are cytoplasmic ridges elevated from the cell surfaces, and their inner part is filled with spaces of various sizes. It is supposed that these ridges result from the encounter of cytoplasmic folds protruding from two neighboring cells. Below the ridges, there is a short close junctional area which is followed by a long region of intercellular space intermittently bridged by cytoplasmic projections. Microvillus-like cytoplasmic processes on the apical cell surfaces, and microfilaments and microtubules in subsurface regions are observed in this material as in many other embryonic cells of amphibians.