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The anatomical pathways for antennal sensory information in the central nervous system of the cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus

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Invertebrate Neuroscience

Abstract

Antennae are one of the major organs to detect chemo- and mechanosensory cue in crickets. Little is known how crickets process and integrate different modality of information in the brain. We thus used a number of different anatomical techniques to gain an understanding of the neural pathways extending from the antennal sensory neurons up to centers in the brain. We identified seven antennal sensory tracts (assigned as T1–7) utilizing anterograde dye filling from the antennal nerve. Tracts T1–T4 project into the antennal lobe (AL), while tracts T5 and T6 course into the dorsal region of the deutocerebrum or the suboesophageal ganglion, and finally, tract T7 terminates in the ventral area of flagellar afferent (VFA). By analyzing autofluorescence images of the AL, we identified 49 sexually isomorphic glomeruli on the basis of shape, relative position and size. On the basis of our sensory-tract data, we assigned the glomeruli into one of four separate groups. We then three-dimensionally reconstructed the internal structures in the AL (glomeruli) and the VFA (layers). Next in the protocerebrum, we identified both the tracts and their terminations from the AL and VFA. We found that 10 tracts originate in the AL, whereas there are at least eight tracts from the VFA. Several tracts from the AL share their routes with those from the VFA, but their termination areas are segregated. We now have a better anatomical understanding of the pathways for the antennal information in cricket.

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Abbreviations

α:

α-Lobe of the mushroom body

AACT:

Accessory antenno-cerebral tract

ACT:

Antenno-cerebral tract

adLH:

Antero-dorsal lateral horn

AL:

Antennal lobe

ALPN:

Projection neuron originating from the antennal lobe

Ant:

Anterior

avLH:

Antero-ventral lateral horn

β:

β-Lobe of the mushroom body

CA:

Anterior calyx of the mushroom body

CC:

Central complex

CP:

Posterior calyx of the mushroom body

DL:

Dorsal lobe

Dors:

Dorsal

dPr:

Dorsal protocerebrum

IACT:

Inner antenno-cerebral tract

idPr:

Inferior dorsal protocerebrum

ilPr:

Inferior lateral protocerebrum

IS:

Isthmus

Lat:

Lateral

LH:

Lateral horn

OACT:

Outer antenno-cerebral tract

pdLH:

Postero-dorsal lateral horn

PN:

Projection neuron

SoG:

Suboesophageal ganglion

VFA:

Ventral area of flagellar afferents

VFAPN:

Projection neuron originating from the ventral area of flagellar afferents

vlPr:

Ventro-lateral protocerebrum

VT:

Visual tract

UT:

Unknown tract

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. Lukowiak K. for his critical reading of this manuscript. We also thank Drs. Sakura M., Watanabe T., Hiraguchi T. and Okada R. for their technical supports and for useful discussion. This research was supported by grants-in-aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) from the MEXT, Scientific Research on Priority Areas (Area No. 454) to H. Aonuma (No. 17075001) and from the JSPS to H. Aonuma (No. 23300113).

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Correspondence to Hitoshi Aonuma.

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10158_2012_137_MOESM1_ESM.mp4

Arrangements of T1-T4 tracts in the AL shown in Fig. 2B. Stacked images of the AL obtained from optical sections made with a CLSM and made up as a 3D animation. (MP4 44 kb)

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Yoritsune, A., Aonuma, H. The anatomical pathways for antennal sensory information in the central nervous system of the cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus . Invert Neurosci 12, 103–117 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10158-012-0137-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10158-012-0137-6

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