The phylogenetic odyssey of the erythrocyte. II. The early or invertebrate prototypes

Abstract

Freely existing hemoglobin-bearing cells suspended in a plasmic milieu (erythrocytes) are found in a relatively small number of taxanomically scattered invertebrates. These species include some annelids, echiurids, molluscs, phoronids, nemerteans and echinoderms, e.g. Pista pacifica, Urechis caupo, Noetia ponderosa, Phoronis australis, Lineus fuscoviridis and Cucumaria miniata respectively. The typical invertebrate erythrocyte (hemocyte, coelomocyte) can be described as permanently nucleated, considerably larger than the human red cell, oval or circular in configuration and spherical, biconvex or flattened in profile. The marginal band of the erythrocyte, a bundle of subplasmalemmal microtubules that circumscribes the periphery of the cell and lies in the plane parallel to its flat surface makes its first appearance in certain invertebrates. This structure in association with the cell surface-associated cytoskeleton is responsible for the flattened elliptical shape seen in some invertebrate erythrocytes and endows them with flexibility and resilience to mechanical forces. This in an evolutionarily persistent characteristic that is retained throughout the submammalian vertebrates. The erythrocytes of invertebrates are more morphologically and functionally diversified than the mammalian model. In addition to respiratory activities (oxygen storage and transport) they can sometimes function as vendors of nutrients and participate in other less obvious processes. These cells therefore frequently not only retain organelles that are usually discarded by vertebrate erythrocytes (ribosomes, golgi apparatus, etc.) but may also depending upon the species, manifest in their cytoplasm organelles and inclusions that are not a normal component of developing or mature submammalian vertebrate and mammalian erythroid cells. Examples of the latter are pigment granules, lipid droplets, extensive glycogen stores and prominent Prussian blue positive inclusions. Erythrocytes in the invertebrates, though presenting certain cytologic and functional features in common, are a heterogenous collection of cells, each tailored for a specific species or group of organisms.