An Electron Microscopy of the Compound eye in Drosophila melanogaster

초파리 복안(複眼)의 전자(電子) 현미경적(顯微鏡的) 연구(硏究)

The compound eyes of the adult Drosophila melanogaster were. fixed in 1.25 per cent glutaraldehyde and 1 per cent osmium tetroxide buffered with sodium cacodylate at pH 7.2. Double fixed specimens were dehydrated using the alcohol series and embedded in Epon 812. They were sectioned with porter blum and JUM 5B ultra-microtome and then stained with lead hydrooxide and uranyl acetate. All thin sections were examined with Hitachi HS-7 or HU-11 electron microscope. The rhabdomere of the compound eye is composed of numerous microvilli packed, arranged, and projected from inner edge of each retinal cell. Each microvillus consisted of a centrum, about $82{\AA}$ in diameter, surrounded by the substances, about $105{\AA}$ in width, which were bounded with double membrane about $44{\AA}$ in thickness. In each inner edge of the microvilli, there was a cylinder, about $175{\AA}$ in diameter, in parallel with retinal cells, which contained a cylindrical axis about $583{\AA}$ in diameter. The surface of the outer edges .of .the microvilli was bounded with reticullar substances about $500{\AA}$ in thickness.