Wax lipid secretion and ultrastructural development in the egg-waxing (Gene's) organ in ixodid ticks.
Gene's organ, the egg-waxing organ of ticks, performs an essential function in females by coating the eggs with a waterproofing layer during oviposition, which prevents desiccation of the embryo, ensuring its viability. The organ is a target for control agents and a potential site of virus replication involving trans-oval transmission of arboviruses. The organ is a complex dermal gland, developed to an elaborate degree. The external appendage, the horns, is an evertable balloon-like cuticular sac which manipulates the eggs and coats them in wax. Wax passes through pores in the cuticle from the internal, sub-cuticular lumen. Gene's organ develops in synchrony with oogenesis and oviposition. This paper describes the development of the gland cells and formation of the intra-cuticular lumen and its ultrastructure during engorgement and oviposition in ixodid ticks. The structural basis for wax secretion in Gene's organ is also described.
N.E.R.C. Institute of Virology, Oxford, Great Britain.
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D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005836:Genitalia, Female / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D010058:Oviposition; D013987:Ticks / Q000502:physiology*; D014885:Waxes / Q000378:metabolism*
D014885:Waxes