Ultrastructure of the organ of Corti in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina)
Ultrastructural descriptions of the inner ear of highly sound-dependent mammalian species are lacking and needed to gain a better understanding of the hearing sense. Here, we present the first morphometric descriptions of the sensory cells of the inner ear in the harbor seal ( Phoca vitulina ), a ma...
Published in: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
Frontiers Media SA
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1211556 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1211556/full |
id |
crfrontiers:10.3389/fmars.2023.1211556 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crfrontiers:10.3389/fmars.2023.1211556 2024-02-11T10:04:32+01:00 Ultrastructure of the organ of Corti in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) Rojas, Laura Haulena, Martin Reichmuth, Colleen Busse, Björn Ramos-Garduño, L. Aurora Rico-Chávez, Oscar Siebert, Ursula Morell, Maria 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1211556 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1211556/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers in Marine Science volume 10 ISSN 2296-7745 Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography journal-article 2023 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1211556 2024-01-26T10:10:03Z Ultrastructural descriptions of the inner ear of highly sound-dependent mammalian species are lacking and needed to gain a better understanding of the hearing sense. Here, we present the first morphometric descriptions of the sensory cells of the inner ear in the harbor seal ( Phoca vitulina ), a mammal with broadly sensitive amphibious hearing. Scanning electron micrographs of the apical surface of the outer hair cells (OHCs) and inner hair cells (IHCs) within the organ of Corti were obtained from five individuals and analyzed by linear and geometric morphometrics. Measurements were taken at regular locations along the cochlea. The spiral shape of the seal cochlea contained two and a half turns. The organ of Corti had an average length of 27.7 mm with 12,628 OHCs (12,400-12,900). Six linear morphometric parameters showed significant patterns of change associated with their location within the cochlear spiral. Likewise, these trends were similarly expressed in cell configuration (cell blocks with 57 landmarks in 12 representative cells) revealed by geometric morphometry. Cell configuration varied predictably with position in the cochlea according to clustering analyses and Procrustes ANOVA (F= 25.936, p<0001). Changes associated with OHCs were primarily responsible for observed changes in cell configuration. An integration trend in cell shape change was also observed in which IHCs and OHCs share features in their morphological variation by the two-block partial least squares analysis (CR=0.987, p<0.001) and the modularity hypothesis (CV=0.99, p=0.05). These descriptive and quantitative findings provide a baseline for the morphology and morphometry of the sensory cells of the organ of Corti in harbor seals, allowing for comparisons between normal and pathological features. This initial morphological description should enable the correlation between position, morphometric features, and frequency coding along the spiral of the inner ear in this species, whose hearing ability is well studied. Article in Journal/Newspaper harbor seal Phoca vitulina Frontiers (Publisher) Frontiers in Marine Science 10 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Frontiers (Publisher) |
op_collection_id |
crfrontiers |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography Rojas, Laura Haulena, Martin Reichmuth, Colleen Busse, Björn Ramos-Garduño, L. Aurora Rico-Chávez, Oscar Siebert, Ursula Morell, Maria Ultrastructure of the organ of Corti in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) |
topic_facet |
Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography |
description |
Ultrastructural descriptions of the inner ear of highly sound-dependent mammalian species are lacking and needed to gain a better understanding of the hearing sense. Here, we present the first morphometric descriptions of the sensory cells of the inner ear in the harbor seal ( Phoca vitulina ), a mammal with broadly sensitive amphibious hearing. Scanning electron micrographs of the apical surface of the outer hair cells (OHCs) and inner hair cells (IHCs) within the organ of Corti were obtained from five individuals and analyzed by linear and geometric morphometrics. Measurements were taken at regular locations along the cochlea. The spiral shape of the seal cochlea contained two and a half turns. The organ of Corti had an average length of 27.7 mm with 12,628 OHCs (12,400-12,900). Six linear morphometric parameters showed significant patterns of change associated with their location within the cochlear spiral. Likewise, these trends were similarly expressed in cell configuration (cell blocks with 57 landmarks in 12 representative cells) revealed by geometric morphometry. Cell configuration varied predictably with position in the cochlea according to clustering analyses and Procrustes ANOVA (F= 25.936, p<0001). Changes associated with OHCs were primarily responsible for observed changes in cell configuration. An integration trend in cell shape change was also observed in which IHCs and OHCs share features in their morphological variation by the two-block partial least squares analysis (CR=0.987, p<0.001) and the modularity hypothesis (CV=0.99, p=0.05). These descriptive and quantitative findings provide a baseline for the morphology and morphometry of the sensory cells of the organ of Corti in harbor seals, allowing for comparisons between normal and pathological features. This initial morphological description should enable the correlation between position, morphometric features, and frequency coding along the spiral of the inner ear in this species, whose hearing ability is well studied. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rojas, Laura Haulena, Martin Reichmuth, Colleen Busse, Björn Ramos-Garduño, L. Aurora Rico-Chávez, Oscar Siebert, Ursula Morell, Maria |
author_facet |
Rojas, Laura Haulena, Martin Reichmuth, Colleen Busse, Björn Ramos-Garduño, L. Aurora Rico-Chávez, Oscar Siebert, Ursula Morell, Maria |
author_sort |
Rojas, Laura |
title |
Ultrastructure of the organ of Corti in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) |
title_short |
Ultrastructure of the organ of Corti in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) |
title_full |
Ultrastructure of the organ of Corti in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) |
title_fullStr |
Ultrastructure of the organ of Corti in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ultrastructure of the organ of Corti in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) |
title_sort |
ultrastructure of the organ of corti in harbor seals (phoca vitulina) |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1211556 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1211556/full |
genre |
harbor seal Phoca vitulina |
genre_facet |
harbor seal Phoca vitulina |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science volume 10 ISSN 2296-7745 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1211556 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
10 |
_version_ |
1790601170273697792 |