Ultrastructure of premetamorphic taste organs of the Bombina variegata.

Ultrastructural studies of taste organs in tadpoles of Bombina variegata indicate that these are taste buds (TBs). They occur in the apical parts of papillae of the mouth cavity lining. Each taste bud consists of taste cells and supporting cells; no basal cells were found. In the sensory area of taste bud there are two types of sensory cells: cells with a tuft of short (approximately 1.5 m) microvilli and cells with a single, longer (up to 3.7 microns) process, definitely longer than in TBs of other studied species of Anura. Fairly often, twin TBs were observed.