Cuticle
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A cuticle (/ˈkjuːtɪkəl/), or cuticula, is any of a variety of tough but flexible, non-mineral outer coverings of an organism, or parts of an organism, that provide protection. Various types of "cuticle" are non-homologous, differing in their origin, structure, function, and chemical composition.
Human anatomy
In
Cuticle of invertebrates
In
The main structural components of the nematode cuticle are proteins, highly cross-linked collagens and specialised insoluble proteins known as "cuticlins", together with glycoproteins and lipids.[3]
The main structural component of arthropod cuticle is chitin, a polysaccharide composed of N-acetylglucosamine units, together with proteins and lipids. The proteins and chitin are cross-linked. The rigidity is a function of the types of proteins and the quantity of chitin. It is believed that the epidermal cells produce protein and also monitors the timing and amount of protein to be incorporated into the cuticle.[4]
Often, in the cuticle of
Botany
In
Some plants, particularly those adapted to life in damp or aquatic environments, have an extreme resistance to wetting. A well-known example is the sacred lotus.[6] This adaptation is not purely the physical and chemical effect of a waxy coating but depends largely on the microscopic shape of the surface. When a hydrophobic surface is sculpted into microscopic, regular, elevated areas, sometimes in fractal patterns, too high and too closely spaced for the surface tension of the liquid to permit any flow into the space between the plateaus, then the area of contact between liquid and solid surfaces may be reduced to a small fraction of what a smooth surface might permit.[7] The effect is to reduce wetting of the surface substantially.[8]
Structural coloration is also observed in the cuticles of plants (see, as an example, the so-called "marble berry", Pollia condensata.[9]
Mycology
"Cuticle" is one term used for the outer layer of tissue of a mushroom's basidiocarp, or "fruit body". The alternative term "pileipellis", Latin for "skin" of a "cap" (meaning "mushroom"[10]) might be technically preferable, but is perhaps too cumbersome for popular use. It is the part removed in "peeling" mushrooms. On the other hand, some morphological terminology in mycology makes finer distinctions, such as described in the article on the "pileipellis". Be that as it may, the pileipellis (or "peel") is distinct from the trama, the inner fleshy tissue of a mushroom or similar fruiting body, and also from the spore-bearing tissue layer, the hymenium.
References
- ^ "CUTICLE | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary". Dictionary.cambridge.org. 2022-05-25. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
- ^ Cuticle. Archived from the original on 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- PMID 18050497.
- ^ "insect physiology" The McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science of Technology, Vol. 9, p. 233, 2007
- PMID 18957361.
- ^ Quere, D.; Surface chemistry. Fakir droplets, Nature Materials 2002, 1, 14.
- .
- ^ Von Baeyer, H. C., "The lotus effect", The Sciences, 2000, January/February, 12
- PMID 23019355.
- OCLC 16764689. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
External links
- Media related to Кутикула at Wikimedia Commons