Cytometric investigations on hemocytes of the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica

F E Friedl; M R Alvarez; J S Johnson; H G Gratzner

doi:10.1016/0040-8166(88)90034-1

Cytometric investigations on hemocytes of the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica

Tissue Cell. 1988;20(6):933-9. doi: 10.1016/0040-8166(88)90034-1.

Authors

F E Friedl¹, M R Alvarez, J S Johnson, H G Gratzner

Affiliation

¹ Department of Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620 USA.

PMID: 18620249
DOI: 10.1016/0040-8166(88)90034-1

Abstract

Pericardial hemolymph was obtained from American Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and the hemocytes characterized by flow cytometry. The cells were found to have a broad unimodal size distribution with a median diameter of 7 micrometers. Total protein measured by flow cytometric fluorescence of dansylated cells also revealed a broad unimodal distribution similar to that obtained for size. The proportion of hemocytes in each stage of the cell cycle was measured using DNA-specific DAPI fluorescence. Histograms showed a single peak representing the G(0)/G(1) population. There was no evidence of S or G(2)+M phases of the cell cycle, nor was polyploidy seen. The forward and orthogonal light scatter of fixed hemocytes showed no evidence of sub-populations on the basis of cytoplasmic granularity. Thus, in terms of these parameters, oyster hemocytes appear to represent a single population exhibiting graded cellular differences.