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A plant cuticle is a protecting film covering the outermost skin layer of leaves, young shoots and other aerial plant organs (aerial here meaning all plant parts not embedded in soil or other substrate) that have no periderm. The film consists of lipid and hydrocarbon polymers infused with wax, and is synthesized exclusively by the epidermal cells.
Chloragogen cells, also called y cells, are star-shaped cells in annelids involved with excretory functions and intermediary metabolism. These cells function similar to the liver found in vertebrates. Chloragogen tissue is most extensively studied in earthworms. [1]
A cuticle (/ ˈ k juː t ɪ k əl /), or cuticula, is any of a variety of tough but flexible, non-mineral outer coverings of an organism, or parts of an organism, that provide protection. Various types of "cuticle" are non- homologous , differing in their origin, structure, function, and chemical composition.
Earthworms store their partners' sperm in spermathecae ("sperm stores") and then the clitellum produces a cocoon that collects ova from the ovaries and then sperm from the spermathecae. Fertilization and development of earthworm eggs takes place in the cocoon. Leeches' eggs are fertilized in the ovaries, and then transferred to the cocoon.
Earthworm head. Depending on the species, an adult earthworm can be from 10 mm (0.39 in) long and 1 mm (0.039 in) wide to 3 m (9.8 ft) long and over 25 mm (0.98 in) wide, but the typical Lumbricus terrestris grows to about 360 mm (14 in) long. [9]
In earthworms, the clitellum can only be seen when the worm is sexually mature. It may be white, orange-red or reddish-brown in colour. Earthworms are ready to mate when their clitellum is orange. [2] In leeches, the clitellum appears during mating season, where it is used for both sexual reproduction and the secretion of a cocoon for the eggs. [4]
Polychaete cuticle does have some preservation potential; it tends to survive for at least 30 days after a polychaete's death. [9] Although biomineralisation is usually necessary to preserve soft tissue after this time, the presence of polychaete muscle in the nonmineralised Burgess shale shows this need not always be the case. [ 9 ]
English: The fine scale structure of a leaf featuring the major tissues; the upper and lower epithelia (and associated cuticles), the palisade and spongy mesophyll and the guard cells of the stoma. Vascular tissue (veins) is not shown. Key plant cell organelles (the cell wall, nucleus, chloroplasts, vacuole and cytoplasm) are also shown.