Physiology and antennal lobe projections of olfactory receptor neurons from sexually isomorphic sensilla on male <Emphasis Type="Italic">Heliothis virescens</Emphasis>

The neurophysiology and antennal lobe projections of olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) within sexually isomorphic short trichoid sensilla of male Heliothis virescens (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera) were investigated using cut-sensillum recording and cobalt-lysine staining. A total of 202 sensilla were sorted into 14 possible sensillar categories based on odor responses and physiology of ORNs within. Seventy-two percent of the sensilla identified contained ORNs stimulated by conspecific odors. In addition, a large number of ORNs were specifically sensitive to ß-caryophyllene, a plant-derived volatile (N = 41). Axons originating from ORNs associated with individual sensilla were stained with cobalt lysine (N = 67) and traced to individual glomeruli in the antennal lobe. ORNs with responses to female sex pheromone components exhibited similar axonal projections as those previously described from ORNs in long sensilla trichodea in male H. virescens. Antennal lobe axonal arborizations of ORNs sensitive to hairpencil components were also located in glomeruli near the base of the antennal nerve, whilst those sensitive to plant odorants projected to more medial glomeruli. Comparisons with ORNs described from female H. virescens supports the notion that glomeruli at the base of the antennal nerve are associated with conspecific and interspecific odorants, whereas those located medially are associated with plant volatiles.     

Function and localization within rostral prefrontal cortex (area 10)

We propose that rostral prefrontal cortex (PFC; approximating area 10) supports a cognitive system that facilitates either stimulus-oriented (SO) or stimulus-independent (SI) attending. SO attending is the behaviour required to concentrate on current sensory input, whereas SI attending is the mental processing that accompanies self-generated or self-maintained thought. Regions of medial area 10 support processes related to the former, whilst areas of lateral area 10 support processes that enable the latter. Three lines of evidence for this 'gateway hypothesis' are presented. First, we demonstrate the predicted patterns of activation in area 10 during the performance of new tests designed to stress the hypothetical function. Second, we demonstrate area 10 activations during the performance of established functions (prospective memory, context memory), which should hypothetically involve the proposed attentional system. Third, we examine predictions about behaviour-activation patterns within rostral PFC that follow from the hypothesis. We show with meta-analysis of neuroimaging investigations that these predictions are supported across a wide variety of tasks, thus establishing a general principle for functional imaging studies of this large brain region. We then show that while the gateway hypothesis accommodates a large range of findings relating to the functional organization of area 10 along a medial-lateral dimension, there are further principles relating to other dimensions and functions. In particular, there is a functional dissociation between the anterior medial area 10, which supports processes required for SO attending, and the caudal medial area 10, which supports processes relating to mentalizing.     

锤胁跷蝽触角转录组分析

为了获得锤胁跷蝽(Yemma signatus Hsiao)触角基因信息,本研究使用Illumina HiSeq TM 4 000高通量测序技术对锤胁跷蝽成虫触角进行转录组测序和生物学信息分析。共获得61 080 938条clean reads,包括9.16 G (GenBank登录号:SRR3348966)。拼接115 491条unigenes,平均长度为578 bp,N50为863 bp。在7大数据库中注释到46 224条unigenes,其中在NR数据库中注释的基因最多,为32 842 (28.43%)条,与内华达古白蚁(Zootermopsis nevadensis)相似度最高(9.0%)。转录组数据分析鉴定出125个与嗅觉相关的基因,其中66个嗅觉受体、11个味觉受体、1个离子型受体、3个感觉神经元膜蛋白、30个气味结合蛋白和14个化学感受蛋白基因。本研究首次获得锤胁跷蝽触角转录组数据,并鉴定出嗅觉相关基因,本研究为今后利用嗅觉基因靶标防治害虫提供了分子生物学信息数据。     

Learning in honeybees: from molecules to behaviour

Studies in a variety of organisms as diverse as molluscs, insects, birds and mammals have shown that memories can exist in a variety of temporal domains ranging from short-term memories in the range of minutes to long-term memories lasting a lifetime. While transient covalent modifications of proteins underlie short-term memory, the formation of long-term memory requires gene expression and protein synthesis. Different intracellular signalling cascades have been implicated in distinct aspects of learning and memory formation. Little is known however, about how learning in intact animals is related to the modulation of these signalling cascades and how this contributes to distinct neuronal and behavioural changes in vivo. Associative learning in the honeybee provides the opportunity to study processes of memory formation by analysing its progression through different phases, across levels of behaviour, neural circuits, and cellular signalling pathways. The findings reveal evidence that various cellular signalling pathways in the neuronal circuit of distinct brain areas play a role in different processes during learning and memory formation.     

松褐天牛触角感器电镜扫描和触角电位反应

应用扫描电镜对松褐天牛的触角感器进行扫描观察,并测定了触角对松树主要挥发物的电生理反应.松褐天牛触角上共有7种感器,即毛形感器、锥形感器、指形感器、棒形感器、瓶形感器、芽形感器以及刺形感器,以毛形和锥形感器的数量最丰富.其中毛形感器和锥形感器各有3个型,指形感器有2个型.毛Ⅱ、毛Ⅲ型和锥Ⅰ、锥Ⅱ型感器表皮结构具有深的纵刻纹,具有嗅觉感器的典型特征.同时对各种感器的数量、长度及分布特点等作了描述.电生理研究结果表明,几种供试化合物及其混合物均能引起松褐天牛雌、雄成虫较强的电生理反应;松褐天牛触角不同部位的EAG反应存在显著差异;剂量试验表明,松褐天牛成虫触角对不同浓度的α-Pinene的EAG反应存在一定的规律性.     

Combined effects of olfactory and mechanical inputs in antennal lobe neurons of the cockroach

Although it has been known that olfactory and mechanical inputs from the antenna converge in the antennal lobe of the deutocerebrum of the American cockroach, the capacity of antennal lobe neurons to integrate cues from these modalities was never examined. In the present study, neurons responsive to both the odor of lemon oil and to lateral displacement of the antenna were used to compare the effects of unimodal and bimodal stimulation. The combination of olfactory and mechanical stimuli produced increases over unimodal olfactory responses in 61% (30/49) of the neurons. In the remaining neurons the response either decreased (20%; 10/49), or no bimodal interaction was apparent (19%; 9/49). Dye injection (lucifer yellow) following physiological characterization revealed that these bimodal neurons are local neurons or projection neurons. The antennal lobe links the inputs from olfactory and mechanosensory systems and provides a substrate through which olfactory and mechanical stimuli influence one another's effects. Accepted: 29 September 1997     

Glial patterning during postembryonic development of central neuropiles in the brain of the honeybee

 Glial cells are involved in several functions during the development of the nervous system. To understand potential glial contributions to neuropile formation, we examined the cellular pattern of glia during the development of the mushroom body, antennal lobe and central complex in the brain of the honeybee. Using an antibody against the glial-specific repo-protein of Drosophila, the location of the glial somata was detected in the larval and pupal brain of the bee. In the early larva, a continuous layer of glial cell bodies defines the boundaries of all growing neuropiles. Initially, the neuropiles develop in the absence of any intrinsic glial somata. In a secondary process, glial cells migrate into defined locations in the neuropiles. The corresponding increase in the number of neuropile-associated glial cells is most likely due to massive immigrations of glial cells from the cell body rind using neuronal fibres as guidance cues. The combined data from the three brain regions suggest that glial cells can prepattern the neuropilar boundaries. Received: 3 November 1996 / Accepted: 7 February 1997     

The morphology of the cephalic lobes and anterior pectoral fins in six species of batoids

Many benthic batoids utilize their pectoral fins for both undulatory locomotion and feeding. Certain derived, pelagic species of batoids possess cephalic lobes, which evolved from the anterior pectoral fins. These species utilize the pectoral fins for oscillatory locomotion while the cephalic lobes are used for feeding. The goal of this article was to compare the morphology of the cephalic lobes and anterior pectoral fins in species that possess and lack cephalic lobes. The skeletal elements (radials) of the cephalic lobes more closely resembled the radials in the pectoral fin of undulatory species. Second moment of area (I), calculated from cephalic lobe radial cross sections, and the number of joints revealed greater flexibility and resistance to bending in multiple directions as compared to pectoral fin radials of oscillatory species. The cephalic lobe musculature was more complex than the anterior pectoral fin musculature, with an additional muscle on the dorsal side, with fiber angles running obliquely to the radials. In Rhinoptera bonasus, a muscle presumably used to help elevate the cephalic lobes is described. Electrosensory pores were found on the cephalic lobes (except Mobula japonica) and anterior pectoral fins of undulatory swimmers, but absent from the anterior pectoral fins of oscillatory swimmers. Pore distributions were fairly uniform except in R. bonasus, which had higher pore numbers at the edges of the cephalic lobes. Overall, the cephalic lobes are unique in their anatomy but are more similar to the anterior pectoral fins of undulatory swimmers, having more flexibility and maneuverability compared to pectoral fins of oscillatory swimmers. The maneuverable cephalic lobes taking on the role of feeding may have allowed the switch to oscillatory locomotion and hence, a more pelagic lifestyle. J. Morphol. 274:1070–1083, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Pigment-dispersing hormone-immunoreactive fibers persist in crickets which remain rhythmic after bilateral transection of the optic stalks

Lesion studies combined with immunocytochemical experiments were used to examine whether pigment-dispersing hormone-immunoreactive processes in the midbrain of crickets correlate with the presence of circadian activity. After interruption of both optic stalks in the crickets Teleogryllus commodus and Gryllus bimaculatus animals retained circadian rhythms in their activity patterns. This suggests that there is another circadian oscillator in the midbrain. The pigment-dispersing hormone-immunoreactive fibers in the midbrain of both operated species appeared not to degenerate although they were separated from their somata in the optic lobes. These data could suggest that surviving fibers, separated from the somata of the circadian pacemaker in the optic lobes, contribute to the persistance of circadian activity in operated crickets.Abbreviations DD constant darkness - LD light dark cycles - PDH pigment-dispersing hormone - PDHLI pigment-dispersing hormone-like immunoreactivity - PDH Me pigment-dispersing hormone-immunoreactive cells of the accessory medulla - QV Quantification value     

Morphogenesis and cellular proliferation pattern in the developing antennal lobe of Drosophila melanogaster

The adult antennal lobe of Drosophila melanogaster emerges from a precursor, the larval antennal lobe. Pulse and pulse-chase labelling of dividing cells in larvae and pupae with bromodeoxyuridine confirmed previous data that some of the interneurons of the adult antennal lobe derive from a lateral neuroblast which starts to divide early in the first larval instar. However, the majority of these interneurons originate from neuroblasts that initiate mitosis at later stages, with a peak of about 10–12 pairs of dividing neuroblasts in the late third larval instar. No clustering of adult antennal lobe neurons according to their birthdates was observed. In contrast to neurons, terminal divisions of glia in the antennal lobe reach their maximum only 12 h after puparium formation.