Taste buds of the fungiform papillae in Cynomolgus monkey

A study of the number of taste buds borne on 145 fungiform papillae from 20 Cynomolgus monkeys showed that, in contrast to the situation in man, most papillae are bud-bearing. The fine structure of taste buds on fungiform papillae of these monkeys was also examined. The cells contained clear apical vesicles, mitochondria, filament bundles and stacks of Golgi cisternae. Nerve fibres containing mitochondria, as well as clear and dense-cored vesicles, were scattered throughout the whole bud, but were more numerous near the base. It was, however, not possible to distinguish different cell types in these taste buds as a function of cell shape, electron density of the ground cytoplasm, presence of different organelles or relation to nerve processes.