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    Structure of Notochord

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    Sayak Mondal
    The document summarizes the fine structure of the notochord in Amphioxus. It describes: 1. The notochord consists of vertically arranged, disc shaped cells called notochordal plates that vary in thickness and are separated by membranes. 2. The plates contain fibrils, vesicles, and mitochondria. Nuclei are flattened and vertically oriented. 3. Notogenesis is the development of the notochord from epiblasts during gastrulation, inducing neural tube formation. The notochord was defining feature of early chordates and present throughout life in many early forms, though some modern species have reverted to this primitive state in adulthood.

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    Structure of Notochord

    Uploaded by

    Sayak Mondal
    80 views2 pages
    The document summarizes the fine structure of the notochord in Amphioxus. It describes: 1. The notochord consists of vertically arranged, disc shaped cells called notochordal plates that vary in thickness and are separated by membranes. 2. The plates contain fibrils, vesicles, and mitochondria. Nuclei are flattened and vertically oriented. 3. Notogenesis is the development of the notochord from epiblasts during gastrulation, inducing neural tube formation. The notochord was defining feature of early chordates and present throughout life in many early forms, though some modern species have reverted to this primitive state in adulthood.

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    The document summarizes the fine structure of the notochord in Amphioxus. It describes: 1. The notochord consists of vertically arranged, disc shaped cells called notochordal plates that vary in thickness and are separated by membranes. 2. The plates contain fibrils, vesicles, and mitochondria. Nuclei are flattened and vertically oriented. 3. Notogenesis is the development of the notochord from epiblasts during gastrulation, inducing neural tube formation. The notochord was defining feature of early chordates and present throughout life in many early forms, though some modern species have reverted to this primitive state in adulthood.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    80 views2 pages

    Structure of Notochord

    Uploaded by

    Sayak Mondal
    The document summarizes the fine structure of the notochord in Amphioxus. It describes: 1. The notochord consists of vertically arranged, disc shaped cells called notochordal plates that vary in thickness and are separated by membranes. 2. The plates contain fibrils, vesicles, and mitochondria. Nuclei are flattened and vertically oriented. 3. Notogenesis is the development of the notochord from epiblasts during gastrulation, inducing neural tube formation. The notochord was defining feature of early chordates and present throughout life in many early forms, though some modern species have reverted to this primitive state in adulthood.

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    Dr. Sujoy Ghosh. C.U.

    for 2nd Semester Chordata structure & Function

    Fine structure of Notochord in Amphioxus

    The notochord is a flexible rod-shaped body found in embryos of all chordates. It


    is composed of cells derived from the mesoderm and defines the primitive axis of the
    embryo. In some chordates, it persists throughout life as the main axial support of the
    body, while in most vertebrates it becomes the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral
    disc. The notochord is found ventral to the neural tube.

    1. The notochord of Amphioxus consists primarily of vertically arranged, disc shaped


    cells called notochordal plates.
    2. The plates vary in thickness from 1 to 4 μ and are separated from one another by
    irregular membrane.
    3. Within the cytoplasm of plate like cells are embedded mitochondria, strands of
    vesicles and long, electron opaque fibrils composed of filaments.
    4. The fibrils are oriented transversely, but they do not extend completely across the
    chord, being absent from a marginal zone on each side of plates.
    5. The nucleus of the cell is flattened, vertically oriented body surrounded by
    organelle bearing cytoplasm and situated near the center of the plate.
    6. Occationally oval masses of dense closely packed membranes are seen lying within
    the row of vesicles and small vacuoles along the middle of the plates.

    7. Cell membrane at the lateral margin of the plate is highly infolded into diverticula
    approximately 0.2μ in diameter and 1.5μ in length

    8. External to the notochord lies a somewhat homogeneous layer called elastic


    interna, about 0.2μ in thickness, which not only encloses the chord but fills the
    diverticula of the plates.
    Dr. Sujoy Ghosh. C.U. for 2nd Semester Chordata structure & Function

    9. Outside this coat is notochordal sheath , composed of an inner layer of fibres


    oriented circularly and outer layer of similar fibres arranged longitudinally. The
    fibres are collagenous in nature.

    10. Along the dorsal and ventral surface of notochord there is a row of cells called
    Muller’s cells which are different from the plates. They have no fibrils and they
    possess a system of intra cellular canaliculi.

    11. Within cytoplasm of these cells there are small vesicles, endoplasmic reticulum
    and mitochondria.

    Notogenesis

    Notogenesis is the development of the notochord by the epiblasts that make up the floor
    of the amnion cavity (Human Embryology). The notochord arises from the bilaminar
    embryonic disk.The notochord forms during gastrulation and soon after induces the
    formation of the neural plate (neurulation), synchronizing the development of the neural
    tube. On the ventral aspect of the neural groove an axial thickening of the endoderm
    takes place. (In bi-pedal chordates, e.g. humans, this surface is properly referred to as the
    anterior surface). This thickening appears as a furrow (the chordal furrow) the margins of
    which anastomose (come into contact), and so convert it into a solid rod of polygonal-
    shaped cells (the notochord) which is then separated from the endoderm.

    Evolution of the notochord

    The notochord is the defining feature of Chordates, and was present throughout life in
    many of the earliest chordates. Although the stomochord of hemichordates was once
    thought to be homologous, it is now viewed as a convergence. Pikaia appears to have a
    proto-notochord, and notochords are present in several basal chordates such as
    Haikouella, Haikouichthys, and Myllokunmingia, all from the Cambrian. The Ordovician
    oceans included many diverse species of agnathan fish which possessed notochords,
    either with attached bony elements or without, most notably the conodonts, placoderms
    and ostracoderms. Even after the evolution of the vertebral column in chondrichthyes
    and osteichthyes, these taxa remained common and are well represented in the fossils
    record. Several species (see list below) have reverted to the primitive state, retaining the
    notochord into adulthood, though the reasons for this are not well-understood.

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