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Physiology and morphology of projection neurons in the antennal lobe of the male mothManduca sexta

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Summary

  1. 1.

    We have used intracellular recording and staining, followed by reconstruction from serial sections, to characterize the responses and structure of projection neurons (PNs) that link the antennal lobe (AL) to other regions of the brain of the male sphinx mothManduca sexta.

  2. 2.

    Dendritic arborizations of the AL PNs were usually restricted either to ordinary glomeruli or to the male-specific macroglomerular complex (MGC) within the AL neuropil. Dendritic fields in the MGC appeared to belong to distinct partitions within the MGC (Figs. 2, 3). PNs innervating the ordinary glomeruli had arborizations in a single glomerulus (uniglomerular) (Figs. 6, 7, 9, 11, 12A) or in more than one ordinary glomerulus of one AL (multiglomerular) (Figs. 12B, C, 14, 15), or in one case, in single glomeruli in both ALs (bilateral-uniglomerular) (Fig. 16). One PN innervated the MGC and many or all ordinary glomeruli of the AL (Fig. 13).

  3. 3.

    PNs with dendritic arborizations in the ordinary glomeruli and PNs associated with the MGC typically projected both to the calyces of the ipsilateral mushroom body and to the lateral protocerebrum, but some differences in the patterns of termination in those regions have been noted for the two classes of PNs (Figs. 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 16). One PN conspicuously lacked branches in the calyces but did project to the lateral protocerebrum (Fig. 14). The PN innervating the MGC and many ordinary glomeruli projected to the calyces of the ipsilateral mushroom body and the superior protocerebrum (Fig. 13).

  4. 4.

    Crude sex-pheromone extracts excited all neurons with arborizations in the MGC, although some were inhibited by other odors (Figs. 3, 4). One P(MGC) was excited by crude sex-pheromone extract and by a mimic of one component of the pheromone blend but was inhibited by another component of the blend (Fig. 5).

  5. 5.

    PNs with dendritic arborizations in ordinary glomeruli were excited (Figs. 7, 8, 10) or inhibited (Figs. 9, 11) by certain non-pheromonal odors. Some of these PNs also responded to mechanosensory stimulation of the antennae (Figs. 10, 11, 15, 16).

  6. 6.

    The PN with dendritic arborizations in the MGC and many ordinary glomeruli was excited by crude sex-pheromone extracts and non-pheromonal odors and also responded to mechanosensory stimulation of the antenna (Fig. 13).

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Abbreviations

AL :

antennal lobe

Ca :

primary calyces of the mushroom body

cb :

cell body

DACT :

dorsal antenno-cerebral tract

DMACT :

dorsomedial antenno-cerebral tract

FE :

female equivalent

G :

ordinary glomerulus

GABA :

γ-aminobutyric acid

IACT :

inner antenno-cerebral tract

ILPR :

inferior lateral protocerebrum

L :

lateral

LH :

lateral horn of the protocerebrum

LN :

local interneuron

MGC :

macroglomerular complex

Oe :

oesophageal canal

P :

posterior

PD(G) :

PN with axon in DACT and arborizations in one or more AL ordinary glomeruli

PDM(G) :

PN with axon in DMACT and arborizations in one or more AL ordinary glomeruli

P(G) :

PN with arborizations in one or more AL ordinary glomeruli

PIa(G) :

PN with axon in IACT, type a, and arborizations in one or more AL ordinary glomeruli

PIa(MGC) :

PN with axon in IACT, type a, and arborizations in MGC

PI(MGC, G) :

PN with axon in IACT and arborizations in MGC and one or more AL ordinary glomeruli

P (MGC) :

PN with arborizations in MGC

PN :

projection neuron

SOG :

suboesophageal ganglion

SPC :

superior protocerebrum

LY :

Lucifer Yellow CH

TES :

N-tris[hydroxymethyl]methyl-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arizona Research Laboratories, Division of Neurobiology, University of Arizona, 85721, Tucson, Arizona, USA

    Ryohei Kanzaki, Edmund A. Arbas, Nicholas J. Strausfeld & John G. Hildebrand

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  1. Ryohei Kanzaki
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  2. Edmund A. Arbas
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  3. Nicholas J. Strausfeld
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  4. John G. Hildebrand
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Kanzaki, R., Arbas, E.A., Strausfeld, N.J. et al. Physiology and morphology of projection neurons in the antennal lobe of the male mothManduca sexta . J. Comp. Physiol. 165, 427–453 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00611233

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