Evidence of a contractile mechanism in the taste bud of the mouse fungiform papilla

The taste pores of anesthetized mice were directly observed by means of an epimicroscope. After exposure to HCl vapor, the taste bud responded by extruding fluid from the pore. Within a few seconds the fluid receded leaving a ring of material. By electron microscopy the pore was seen to be filled with vesicles, presumably in a fluid matrix. A possible contractile mechanism is hypothesized; it consists of a long wavy bundle of tonofilaments whose extension and retraction could account for these observations.