Abstract
Mushroom bodies are prominent brain neuropils present in most arthropod representatives. Similar structures in the brain of certain polychaete species are possibly homologous to these structures. Using three-dimensional reconstruction techniques, we investigated the structural composition of the mushroom body neuropils in the polychaete species Nereis diversicolor and Harmothoe areolata. Comparative analysis revealed a common organization of neuropil substructures in both species that closely matches the basic assembly of arthropod mushroom bodies. Concurring with earlier homology assessments, these neuroarchitectural similarities provide support for a common origin of mushroom body neuropils in polychaetes and arthropods. Beyond that, differences in the morphological differentiation of neuropil substructures indicate polychaete mushroom bodies to show a high degree of morphological variability, thus impeding the quest for a common ground pattern of these brain centers.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Jörn von Döhren (FU Berlin, Germany) for providing us with N. diversicolor specimens and Dr. Carsten Müller (University Rostock, Germany) for offering us the opportunity to join a collection trip to the isle of Ibiza, Spain. Comments by Prof. Thomas Bartolomaeus and three anonymous reviewers substantially improved the submitted manuscript. Funding for this study was provided by DFG grant LO797/3-2 as part of the Priority Program 1174—“Deep Metazoan Phylogeny” of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.
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Heuer, C.M., Loesel, R. Three-dimensional reconstruction of mushroom body neuropils in the polychaete species Nereis diversicolor and Harmothoe areolata (Phyllodocida, Annelida). Zoomorphology 128, 219–226 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-008-0063-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-008-0063-7