Cytochemical distinction of various nucleolar components in insect cells.

The fine structure of the insect Sf9 cell nucleolus has been investigated by means of different cytochemical and immunocytochemical techniques at the electron microscope level. Apart from a few perinucleolar condensed chromatin clumps, the insect cell nucleolus comprises two compartments. The first of these consists of a roundish compact zone formed of fibrillar material. The other is composed of fibrillar and granular structures organized into a network separated by interstitial spaces. But, unlike mammalian cell nucleoli, any fibrillar center has been observed in the Sf9 cell nucleolus, even after actinomycin D treatment. We also show that the compact fibrillar zone of Sf9 cell nucleoli contains silver-stainable material and DNA. In actinomycin D-treated cells, a preferential contact of this compact fibrillar zone with condensed chromatin has been visualized. Finally, silver-stainable material has been found to persist throughout the whole mitosis. These results suggest that the compact fibrillar zone at the insect Sf9 cell nucleolus should, at least partly, correspond to the fibrillar center of mammalian cell nucleoli.