Comparative studies on cholinergic activities in the central nervous system ofLocusta migratoria

Breer, Heinz

doi:10.1007/bf01342673

Cited by 48 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Putative cholinergic neurons are widely distributed in the adult CNS and the PNS. Since ACh has been considered to be a major excitatory neurotransmitter in the CNS and sensory afkrents of insects (Sanes and Hildebrand, 1976: Breer, 1981: Breer and Sattelle, 1987, our results appear reasonable. Although X-gal staining is observed in many primary sensory afferents in transformants carrying construct I , it is not present in all systems but seems to be related to the modality of the primary sensory neurons.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Regulation of choline acetyltransferase/iacZ fusion gene expression in putative cholinergic neurons of drosophila melanogaster

1995

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We have analyzed the distribution of putative cholinergic neurons in whole-mount preparations of adult Drosophila melanogaster. Putative cholinergic neurons were visualized by X-gal staining of P-element transformed flies carrying a fusion gene consisting of 5' flanking DNA from the choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) gene and lacZ reporter gene. We have previously demonstrated that cryostat sections of transgenic flies carrying 7.4 kb of ChAT 5' flanking DNA show reporter gene expression in a pattern essentially similar to the known distribution of ChAT protein. Whole-mount staining of these same flies by X-gal should thus represent the overall distribution of ChAT-positive neurons. Extensive staining was observed in the cephalic, thoracic, and stomodeal ganglia, primary sensory neurons in antenna, maxillary palps, labial palps, leg, wing, and male genitalia. Primary sensory neurons associated with photoreceptors and tactile receptors were not stained. We also examined the effects of partial deletions of the 7.4 kb fragment on reporter gene expression. Deletion of the 7.4 kb fragment to 1.2 kb resulted in a dramatic reduction of X-gal staining in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). This indicates that important regulatory elements for ChAT expression in the PNS exist in the distal region of the 7.4 kb fragment. The distal parts of the 7.4 kb fragment, when fused to a basal heterologous promoter, can independently confer gene expression in subsets of putative cholinergic neurons. With these constructs, however, strong ectopic expression was also observed in several non-neuronal tissues.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Regulation of choline acetyltransferase/iacZ fusion gene expression in putative cholinergic neurons of drosophila melanogaster

1995

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“…Comparative studies have shown that the specific activity of ChAT (Fig. 1) is more than 100 times higher in insect ganglia than it is in the vertebrate brain (57). The enzyme is present in neuronal perikarya (where it is synthesized), neurites and nerve endings, where the highest activity of ChAT is found.…”

Section: Enzymology Of Chatmentioning

confidence: 96%

Cholinergic Nerve Terminals in the Central Nervous System of Insects

Sattelle

Breert

1990

J Neuroendocrinology

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“…1C) may result from nicotinic effects masking muscarinic effects (see also Benson, 1992;Heinrich et al, 1997;Heinrich et al, 2001;Wenzel et al, 2002) owing to the greater abundance of nicotinic receptors (Breer, 1981), and the action of acetylcholinesterase (Treherne and Smith, 1965), which would not affect the non-hydrolysable acetylcholine analogue carbachol. Supporting this, the cholinesterase inhibitor eserine (1 mmol l -1 ), which leads to accumulation of spontaneously released acetylcholine in the synaptic cleft, readily induced flight.…”

Section: Acetylcholine and The Tcg Interneuronementioning

confidence: 99%

A muscarinic cholinergic mechanism underlies activation of the central pattern generator for locust flight

Buhl

Schildberger

Stevenson

2008

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYA central question in behavioural control is how central pattern generators (CPGs) for locomotion are activated. This paper disputes the key role generally accredited to octopamine in activating the CPG for insect flight. In deafferented locusts, fictive flight was initiated by bath application of the muscarinic agonist pilocarpine, the acetylcholine analogue carbachol, and the acetylcholinesterase blocker eserine, but not by nicotine. Furthermore, in addition to octopamine, various other amines including dopamine, tyramine and histamine all induced fictive flight, but not serotonin or the amine-precursor amino acid tyrosine. However, flight initiation was not reversibly blocked by aminergic antagonists, and was still readily elicited by both natural stimulation (wind) and pilocarpine in reserpinized, amine-depleted locusts. By contrast, the muscarinic antagonists atropine and scopolamine reversibly blocked flight initiated by wind, cholinergic agonists, octopamine, and by selective stimulation of a flightinitiating interneurone (TCG). The short delay from TCG stimulation to flight onset suggests that TCG acts directly on the flight CPG, and accordingly that TCG, or its follower cell within the flight generating circuit, is cholinergic. We conclude that acetylcholine acting via muscarinic receptors is the key neurotransmitter in the mechanism underlying the natural activation of the locust flight CPG. Amines are not essential for this, but must be considered as potential neuromodulators for facilitating flight release and tuning the motor pattern. We speculate that muscarinic activation coupled to aminergic facilitation may be a general feature of behavioural control in insects for ensuring conditional recruitment of individual motor programs in accordance with momentary adaptive requirements.

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Comparative studies on cholinergic activities in the central nervous system ofLocusta migratoria

Cited by 48 publications

References 24 publications

Regulation of choline acetyltransferase/iacZ fusion gene expression in putative cholinergic neurons of drosophila melanogaster

Regulation of choline acetyltransferase/iacZ fusion gene expression in putative cholinergic neurons of drosophila melanogaster

Cholinergic Nerve Terminals in the Central Nervous System of Insects

A muscarinic cholinergic mechanism underlies activation of the central pattern generator for locust flight

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