Medio siglo de discusión sobre el condrioma en la histología española Half a century of discussion about chondriome in spanish histology

In 1957 Lluis Vallmitjana Rovira (1914-2006), professor of plant and animal histology in Biology faculty, Barcelona University, published, in the Boletin de la Real Sociedad Espanola de Historia Natural, an extensive article which he considered an attempt of synthesis and tuning in relation to chondriome and other cytoplasm components. Even in that time, some confusion was kept about the concept of chondriome, that compromised questions such as the presence or absence of mitochondria in every eukaryotic cells, its homogeneity considering the morphological and functional point of view, its relation with other component of cytoplasm cell, specially with plastids, and its possible origin from chondriome formations. * Presentado en la XX Bienal RSEHN, Madrid 2013. Trabajo realizado en el marco del proyecto de investigacion HAR2010-21333-C03-01, del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion. “Los anos grises. La investigacion en Biologia en la Espana del primer franquismo.” J. Fonfria Diaz y P. Calvo de Pablo Bol. R. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. Sec. Biol., 108, 2014 138 All these considerations had been discussed from the last 19th century when the first descriptions about chondriome are made and, above all, from the first research about plastid origin in the first decade of 20th century, issues that will be not elucidated till the second half of 20th century, with electronic microscopy development and the progress in molecular biology. The Spanish histology was not unrelated to the interest in deepening in chondriome knowledge, to which was supposed an important function in cellular activity, and so, some meaningful activities were made in the period, of nearly half a century, between 1913 and the early sixties. In these contributions it should be emphasized the use of silver techniques developed by histologists as Cajal, Achucarro y Rio-Hortega, who so many successes had provided in studies of animal tissues, especially in nervous tissue. They were used, as in animals cells as vegetables ones, particularly with the aim of the identification of different cytoplasmic structures which were considered chondriome components: chondriosomes, mitochondria, chondriomites, chondriocontes ... Among the most important contributions in vegetable cells we can point out, first of all, the work of Jose Madrid Moreno (1863-1936) and Jaime Pujiula Dilme (1869-1958) about the application of these techniques in vegetable histology with the aim of identifying mitochondrias and chloroplasts. Besides, Salustio Alvarado Fernandez (18971981) and Lluis Vallmitjana Rovira (1914-2006) actively took part in the discussion about the mitochondrial origin likely plastid. Although in animal histology field the argentical impregnation techniques were used to identify and describe the chondrioma components in several tissues, the most contributions were made in nervous and muscle tissue. In nervous tissue Juan Manuel Ortiz Picon (1903-1995) carried out an extensive study about chondrioma neuronal and Pio del Rio Hortega (1882-1945) made it about glial cells. In striated muscle, Emilio Fernandez Galiano (18851953) and, specially, Vallmitjana tried to clarify the chondrioma components characteristics and distinguish them from others cytoplasmic components.