Egg capsules of a parasitic turbellarian flatworm: ultrastructure of hatching sutures

A previous study showed that sutures in intact capsules of Syndisyrinx franciscanus are not affected by host digestive fluids, but are severely weakened immediately prior to hatching owing to activities of the embryos. The hypothesis that the embryos secrete a hatching enzyme is supported by findings that sutures of intact capsules are not affected by externally applied trypsin, but become weakened when capsules are cut open and then incubated in trypsin. Scanning electron microscopy reveals that the outer parts of sutures often remain intact after hatching. We hypothesize that the ability of sutures to resist enzymatic attack from the outside, but not the inside, results from differences in the chemical properties of the cementums in outer and inner parts of sutures.