Skip to main content
The Journal of Cell Biology logoLink to The Journal of Cell Biology
. 1979 Mar 1;80(3):736–742. doi: 10.1083/jcb.80.3.736

Transverse sarcomere splitting. A possible means of longitudinal growth in crab muscles

PMCID: PMC2110374  PMID: 457766

Abstract

Transversely split sarcomeres are seen in mouthpart muscles of the blue crab in the electron microscope. Sarcomeres split only at the H zone. Two new sarcomeres are formed by a Z disk which appears in the H zone of the splitting sarcomere. Splitting may involve breaking of the thick filaments in the H zone, elongation of these filaments, and formation of both new actin filaments and Z-disk materials, Sarcomere splitting would allow longitudinal growth of muscle cells without lengthening of sarcomeres and concomitant changes in contractile properties.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (2.8 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. ARONSON J. OBSERVATIONS ON THE VARIATIONS IN SIZE OF THE A REGION OF ARTHROPOD MUSCLE. J Cell Biol. 1963 Nov;19:359–367. doi: 10.1083/jcb.19.2.359. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Griffin G. E., Williams P. E., Goldspink G. Region of longitudinal growth in striated muscle fibres. Nat New Biol. 1971 Jul 7;232(27):28–29. doi: 10.1038/newbio232028a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. HUXLEY A. F., NIEDERGERKE R. Structural changes in muscle during contraction; interference microscopy of living muscle fibres. Nature. 1954 May 22;173(4412):971–973. doi: 10.1038/173971a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Peachey L. D., Eisenberg B. R. Helicoids in the T system and striations of frog skeletal muscle fibers seen by high voltage electron microscopy. Biophys J. 1978 May;22(2):145–154. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(78)85480-0. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Williams P. E., Goldspink G. Longitudinal growth of striated muscle fibres. J Cell Sci. 1971 Nov;9(3):751–767. doi: 10.1242/jcs.9.3.751. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Cell Biology are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES