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Figure 3 | Frontiers in Zoology

Figure 3

From: Control of shell pigmentation by secretory tubules in the abalone mantle

Figure 3

Pigmentation of the mantle corresponds to shell colour. A. Margin of the right side of a juvenile shell. Scale bar = 0.5 mm. B. Mantle tissue directly underlying the shell margin depicted in A. A line of pigmentation is visible, with colours generally corresponding to the colour of the shell in that region (dotted lines in panels A, B and C align shell and mantle tissue). Areas with less visible pigment in the mantle correspond to white shell patches (*). C. Confocal imaging of endogenous mantle fluorescence. Pigments fluoresce in green (not visible due to low intensity), red and far-red wavelengths. Cell nuclei have been stained with DAPI (blue fluorescence). D. Higher magnification of the boxed area in B. Blue, red and orange pigment can be observed. Often, more than one pigment can be seen in a single tubule (black arrow). Scale bar = 0.1 mm. E, F, G. Confocal imaging of autofluorescent pigments in D. E. Excitation at 433 nm produces green autofluorescence, overlapping with orange pigment in D. F. Excitation at 543 nm produces red autofluorescence, overlapping with blue pigment in D. G. Excitation at 633 nm produces far-red autofluorescence, also overlapping with blue pigment in D. Red pigment in D produces no detectable autofluorescence (arrows in D, E, F, G). Arrowheads indicate fluorescent material within the lumen, double arrowheads indicate punctate fluorescent material that is likely intracellular.

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