Morphology and immune-related activities of hemocytes of the Korean mussel Mytilus coruscus (Gould, 1861) from East Sea of Korea

Abstract

The Korean mussel Mytilus coruscus is a cold water marine bivalve inhabiting shallow subtidal rocky bottoms along the East Sea. In this study, we characterized morphology and immune-related activities of hemocytes of M. coruscus using light microscopy and flow cytometry. Based on the morphology and cellular activities, 3 types of hemocyte were identified, as granulocytes, hyalinocyte, and blast-like cells. Granulocytes, containing numerous intra-cytoplasmic granules, was intermediate-size (11.7 &micro m) and the most abundant cells (70.2 %), while hyalinocyte was the largest cells (16.0 &micro m), with no or few granules in their cytoplasm. The granulocytes exhibited higher lysosomal content, phagocytosis activity and oxidative capacities than the hyalinocytes. In contrast, the blast-like cells were the smallest cells (6.4 &micro m) and displayed a lack of phagocytosis and oxidative capacities. In M. coruscus, the granulocytes appear as the major cell type involved in cellular defense, whereas the blast-like cells may not be directly involved in cell-mediated immune response. microscopy and flow cytometry. Based on the morphology and cellular activities, 3 types of hemocyte were identified, as granulocytes, hyalinocyte, and blast-like cells. Granulocytes, containing numerous intra-cytoplasmic granules, was intermediate-size (11.7 &micro m) and the most abundant cells (70.2 %), while hyalinocyte was the largest cells (16.0 &micro m), with no or few granules in their cytoplasm. The granulocytes exhibited higher lysosomal content, phagocytosis activity and oxidative capacities than the hyalinocytes. In contrast, the blast-like cells were the smallest cells (6.4 &micro m) and displayed a lack of phagocytosis and oxidative capacities. In M. coruscus, the granulocytes appear as the major cell type involved in cellular defense, whereas the blast-like cells may not be directly involved in cell-mediated immune response.