Flight muscle differentiation in nymphs of a dragonfly Anax imperator

Abstract

Flight muscle fibers of Anax imperator nymphs, in different developmental stages are analyzed for several morphological features, such as the arrangement and numerical ratio of actin and myosin filaments, the pattern of the T system and sarcoplasmic reticulum, the number of microtubules and the fractional volume of mitochondria in each fiber. The T system is initially represented by longitudinal grooves on the cell suface, joined with vesicles of the sarcoplasmic reticulum; this pattern rapidly changes and the grooves start to break up into longitudinal segments. The thin to thick filament ratio is at first quite high (about 4-4.5:1) but rapidly falls to the final (3:1) when the myofibrils are well developed at the fiber periphery. Statistical analyses show that the measured values are significantly different in the various stages of development, also indicating a progressive reduction of the ratio variability. The reduction of thin to thick filament ratio and the variance decrease fit quite well with the hypothesis that the synthesis of actin and myosin depends on independently regulated messenger RNA molecules.