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The innervation of the salivary gland of the moth, Manduca sexta

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Summary

The salivary glands of the moth, Manduca sexta (Insecta: Sphingidae), are unlike most other salivary glands in that they are innervated from one source only. Vital staining of nerves with methylene-blue reveals numerous fine nerves extending to the glands from the oesophageal nerve, a part of the stomatogastric or visceral nervous system. Light and electron microscopy confirm that only the fluid-secreting cells, confined to a discrete region in these glands, are innervated. Axons with or without glial wrappings are found in intercellular spaces between fluid-secreting cells. Axons lacking a glial sheath contain, after glutaraldehyde-osmium tetroxide fixation, large granular and small agranular vesicles. In nerve endings in glands fixed with permanganate these smaller vesicles are granular, having the electron-dense cores characteristic of monoamine-containing neurons. These nerve endings with “synaptoid areas” are in close (“direct”) contact with the fluid-secreting cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Cambridge, England

    H. A. Robertson

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  1. H. A. Robertson
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I am grateful to Professor T. Weis-Fogh for accommodation in the department of Zoology and to Dr. Nancy Lane for use of A.R.C. facilities and advice. Thanks are also due to Drs. M. J. Berridge, S.H.P. Maddrell, and W. T. Prince and Mr. R. A. Leslie for helpful discussion. Financial assistance from Clare College, Cambridge is gratefully acknowledged.

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Robertson, H.A. The innervation of the salivary gland of the moth, Manduca sexta . Cell Tissue Res. 148, 237–245 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00224585

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00224585

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