Formation of the Spore Tails in Haplosporidium chitonis

Abstract

IN Haplosporidium chitonis the method of formation of the spore tails, which grow to a great length after the completion of the spore coat, has always been rather difficult to understand; it seemed unlikely that the material for these tails could be provided from the interior of the spore, owing to the thickness of the spore wall, at least toward the end of their growth. On a recent intra vitam examination of some of these spores in Janus green, I discovered that, in the younger stages, each is surrounded by a very distinct thick cytoplasmic envelope (Fig. 1, e). The appearance at this stage gives the impression that the spore is being formed inside a cell, but the absence of nucleus outside the spore shows, of course, that this is not the case.