Taste bud of the tongue

Scheme electronmicroscopy. Generally a taste bud is composed of about 20 to 70 spindle-shaped epithelial cells. Slender type I cell ('Dark' cell) and oval shaped type II cell ('Light' cell) with a pale, round nucleus with their apices end in microvilli in the taste pore. The number of type I cells is about twice of that of type II cells. A type III cell without microvilli is in the minority. Synapse-like relations of above-mentioned cells with intraepithelial nerves are reported.