Taste Buds

Sections of two neighboring foliate papillae of the rabbit tongue. There are six taste buds in the walls. They consist of sensory cells with taste receptors ,  support cells and basal cells. Taste buds are intraepithelial organs. Cross-sections display their oval shape. Their circumference tapers off at the lamina propria and is even smaller at the epithelial surface. Each taste bud features 40–70 long, longitudinally oriented cells, which are straight in the center, but slightly arcuate, following the overall shape of the taste bud at the ends. The cells have the layered appearance of an onion. The sensory cells reach to the gustatory pores at the epithelial surface. A short duct ends at the epithelial surface. Routine staining leaves the cytoplasm of the sensory cells light.

1Groove

2 Multilayered nonkeratinizing squamous epithelium

Stain: Heidenhain iron hematoxylin; magnification: × 400

References

Kuehnel, W.(2003). Color Atlas of Cytology, Histology, and Microscopic Anatomy. 4^th edition . Institute of Anatomy Universitätzu Luebeck Luebeck, Germany . Thieme Stuttgart · New York .