Ultrastructure of intraocular muscles of diving and nondiving ducks

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The fine structure of ciliary muscle (CM), iris sphincter (IS), and neuromuscular junctions (NMJ) were studied by light and transmission electron microscopy in domestic ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) and diving ducks (Mergus merganser). Previous work has shown that the iris produces exaggerated acommodative ability in the diver. Both muscles are striated in the two species. While both muscles of domestic ducks and the CM of the diving ducks consist of one cell type, the IS of the latter is made up of two types of cells referred to as "light" and "dark." The "light" cell has long, thin, uniformly distributed mitochondria, while in the "dark" cells they are large, unevenly dispersed and often aggregated subsarcolemmally. The sarcoplasmic reticulum is more abundant in both IS and CM of domestic ducks, while well developed T tubules are seen more regularly in the intraocular muscles of diving ducks.The NMJ's do not show the complexity seen in singly innervated skeletal muscle fibres. All the nerve axon terminals end in a flat shallow trough and postjunctional folds are either nonexistent or very shallow. The NMJ's of the IS of domestic ducks and of the "dark" cell of the IS of diving ducks consist of a large single end plate. That of the CM of domestic ducks consists of a diffuse single end plate while the NMJ of the CM of diving ducks consists of diffuse multiple endings. Nerve endings of similar size and structure but occurring only singly were found on the "light" cell of the IS of domestic ducks.