Ultrastructure of the lung of the rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis oreganus

Journal of Morphology
Daniel L Luchtel, Kenneth V Kardong

Abstract

Scanning and transmission electron microscopic observations were made on the rattlesnake lung, which has the form of a cigar-shaped bag enclosing a large axial air chamber. The lungs were fixed by tracheal instillation of fixative to preserve the structural features of inflated lungs. An open tracheal groove along the ventral aspect of the lung is the only structural "airway" present. The wall of the lung has two histologically distinct regions: anteriorly, a respiratory portion, where up to three generations of septa subdivide the wall into cup-shaped gas-exchange chambers, termed faveoli; and posteriorly, a simple, thin-walled saccular portion. The epithelium lining the internal surface of the lung is composed of several cell types: (1) ciliated cells; (2) type I pneumonocytes; (3) type II pneumonocytes, secretory cells characterized by the presence of lamellar bodies; and (4) serous epithelial cells, secretory cells characterized by the presence of homogeneous, densely staining secretory granules. However, the distinctiveness of the secretory cell types in the snake lung is blurred because intermediate-appearing cells have both the lamellar body and homogenous type of secretory granule. The nonepithelial components of the pu...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jun 18, 2005·American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology·Nini SkovgaardTobias Wang
Feb 24, 2005·Journal of Comparative Physiology. B, Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology·Gina L J GalliTobias Wang
Jan 1, 1995·Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation : Official Publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·B L HomerE R Jacobson
May 23, 2001·Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part A, Molecular & Integrative Physiology·C B Daniels, S Orgeig
Jul 10, 2012·Zoology : Analysis of Complex Systems, ZACS·J Matthias StarckMichael Pees

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