Abstract
Homologues of a neuron that contributes to a species-specific behavior were identified and characterized in species lacking that behavior. The nudibranch Tritonia diomedea swims by flexing its body dorsally and ventrally. The dorsal swim interneurons (DSIs) are components of the central pattern generator (CPG) underlying this rhythmic motor pattern and also activate crawling. Homologues of the DSIs were identified in six nudibranchs that do not exhibit dorsal–ventral swimming: Tochuina tetraquetra, Melibe leonina, Dendronotus iris, D. frondosus, Armina californica, and Triopha catalinae. Homology was based upon shared features that distinguish the DSIs from all other neurons: (1) serotonin immunoreactivity, (2) location in the Cerebral serotonergic posterior (CeSP) cluster, and (3) axon projection to the contralateral pedal ganglion. The DSI homologues, named CeSP-A neurons, share additional features with the DSIs: irregular basal firing, synchronous inputs, electrical coupling, and reciprocal inhibition. Unlike the DSIs, the CeSP-A neurons were not rhythmically active in response to nerve stimulation. The CeSP-A neurons in Tochuina and Triopha also excited homologues of the Tritonia Pd5 neuron, a crawling efferent. Thus, the CeSP-A neurons and the DSIs may be part of a conserved network related to crawling that may have been co-opted into a rhythmic swim CPG in Tritonia.









Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- ASD:
-
Antiserum diluent
- CeSP:
-
Cerebral serotonergic posterior
- CPG:
-
Central pattern generator
- DSI:
-
Dorsal swim interneuron
- PBS:
-
Phosphate buffered saline
- Pd5:
-
Pedal 5
- PdN2:
-
Pedal nerve 2
- PP:
-
Pedal–pedal connective
- Tpep:
-
Tritonia pedal peptide
References
Arbas EA (1983a) Neural correlates of flight loss in a Mexican grasshopper, Barytettix psolus. I. Motor and sensory cells. J Comp Neurol 216:369–380
Arbas EA (1983b) Neural correlates of flight loss in a Mexican grasshopper, Barytettix psolus. II. DCMD and TCG interneurons. J Comp Neurol 216:381–389
Arbas EA, Meinertzhagen IA, Shaw SR (1991) Evolution in nervous systems. Annu Rev Neurosci 14:9–38
Arshavsky YI, Deliagina TG, Orlovsky GN, Panchin YV, Popova LB (1992) Interneurones mediating the escape reaction of the marine mollusc Clione limacina. J Exp Biol 164:307–314
Audesirk G, McCaman RE, Willows AOD (1979) The role of serotonin in the control of pedal ciliary activity by identified neurons in Tritonia diomedea. Comp Biochem Physiol C 62:87–91
Auerbach SB, Grover LM, Farley J (1989) Neurochemical and immunocytochemical studies of serotonin in the Hermissenda central nervous system. Brain Res Bull 22:353–361
Baltzley MJ (2006) Evolution and neurobiology of the neural circuitry underlying crawling in nudibranch molluscs. Ph. D. Dissertation. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Bass AH (1986) Evolution of a vertebrate communication and orientation organ. In: Bullock TH (eds) Electric organs revisited. Wiley, New York
Bass AH, Baker R (1990) Sexual dimorphisms in the vocal control system of a teleost fish: morphology of physiologically identified neurons. J Neurobiol 21:1155–1168
Bass AH, Baker R (1997) Phenotypic specification of hindbrain rhombomeres and the origins of rhythmic circuits in vertebrates. Brain Behav Evol 50:3–16
Bass AH, McKibben JR (2003) Neural mechanisms and behaviors for acoustic communication in teleost fish. Prog Neurobiol 69:1–26
Bebbington A, Hughes GM (1973) Locomotion in Aplysia (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia). Proc Malacol Soc Lond 40:399–405
Bergh R (1894) Reports on the dredging operations off the West Coast of Central America to the Galapagos, to the West Coast of Mexico, and in the Gulf of California, in charge of Alexander Agassiz, carried on by the U.S. Fish Commission Steamer “Albatross”, during 1891, Lieut. Commander Z.L. Tanner, U.S.N., Commanding. XIII. Die Opisthobranchien. Bull Mus Comp Zool 25:125–233
Bullock TH (2000) Revisiting the concept of identifiable neurons. Brain Behav Evol 55:236–240
Buschbeck EK, Strausfeld NJ (1997) The relevance of neural architecture to visual performance: phylogenetic conservation and variation in dipteran visual systems. J Comp Neurol 383:282–304
Cain SD, Wang JH, Lohmann KJ (2006) Immunochemical and electrophysiological analyses of magnetically responsive neurons in the mollusc Tritonia diomedea. J Comp Physiol A 192:235–245
Chase R (2002) Behavior and its neural control in gastropod molluscs. Oxford University Press, New York
Chiang J-TA, Steciuk M, Shtonda B, Avery L (2006) Evolution of pharyngeal behaviors and neuronal functions in free-living soil nematodes. J Exp Biol 209:1859–1873
Comer CM, Robertson RM (2001) Identified nerve cells and insect behavior. Prog Neurobiol 63:409–439
Croll RP (1987) Distribution of monoamines in the central nervous system of the nudibranch gastropod, Hermissenda crassicornis. Brain Res 405:337–347
Croll RP, Boudko DY, Hadfield MG (2001) Histochemical survey of transmitters in the central ganglia of the gastropod mollusc Phestilla sibogae. Cell Tissue Res 305:417–432
Dorsett DA, Willows AOD, Hoyle G (1969) Centrally generated nerve impulse sequences determining swimming behaviour in Tritonia. Nature 224:711–712
Dye JC, Meyer JH (1986) Central control of the electric organ discharge in weakly electric fish. In: Bullock TH, Heiligenberg W (eds) Electroreception. Wiley, New York
Faulkes Z (2004) Loss of escape responses and giant neurons in the tailflipping circuits of slipper lobsters, Ibacus spp. (Decapoda, Palinura, Scyllaridae). Arthropod Struct Dev 33:113–123
Fickbohm DJ, Katz PS (2000) Paradoxical actions of the serotonin precursor 5-hydroxytryptophan on the activity of identified serotonergic neurons in a simple motor circuit. J Neurosci 20:1622–1634
Fickbohm DJ, Lynn-Bullock CP, Spitzer N, Caldwell HK, Katz PS (2001) Localization and quantification of 5-hydroxytryptophan and serotonin in the central nervous systems of Tritonia and Aplysia. J Comp Neurol 437:91–105
Fredman SM, Jahan-Parwar B (1983) Command neurons for locomotion in Aplysia. J Neurophysiol 49:1092–1117
Frost WN, Hoppe TA, Wang J, Tian LM (2001) Swim initiation neurons in Tritonia diomedea. Am Zool 41:952–961
Gamkrelidze GN, Laurienti PJ, Blankenship JE (1995) Identification and characterization of cerebral ganglion neurons that induce swimming and modulate swim-related pedal ganglion neurons in Aplysia brasiliana. J Neurophysiol 74:1444–1462
Getting PA (1981) Mechanisms of pattern generation underlying swimming in Tritonia. I. Neuronal network formed by monosynaptic connections. J Neurophysiol 46:65–79
Getting PA (1983) Mechanisms of pattern generation underlying swimming in Tritonia. II. Intrinsic and synaptic mechanisms for delayed excitation. J Neurophysiol 49:1036–1050
Getting PA, Dekin MS (1985) Mechanisms of pattern generation underlying swimming in Tritonia. IV. Gating of central pattern generator. J Neurophysiol 53:466–480
Getting PA, Lennard PR, Hume RI (1980) Central pattern generator mediating swimming in Tritonia. I. Identification and synaptic interactions. J Neurophysiol 44:151–164
Goslow GE, Dial KP, Jenkins FA (1989) The avian shoulder: an experimental approach. Am Zool 29:287–301
Grande C, Templado J, Cervera JL, Zardoya R (2004) Phylogenetic relationships among Opisthobranchia (Mollusca: Gastropoda) based on mitochondrial cox 1, trn V, and rrnL genes. Mol Phylogen Evol 33:378–388
Grant K, Bell CC, Clausse S, Ravaille M (1986) Morphology and physiology of the brainstem nuclei controlling the electric organ discharge in mormyrid fish. J Comp Neurol 245:514–530
Harris-Warrick RM, Marder E (1991) Modulation of neural networks for behavior. Annu Rev Neurosci 14:39–57
Herrel A, Meyers JJ, Nishikawa KC, De Vree F (2001) The evolution of feeding motor patterns in lizards: modulatory complexity and possible constraints. Am Zool 41:1311–1320
Hume RI, Getting PA (1982) Motor organization of Tritonia swimming. II. Synaptic drive to flexion neurons from premotor interneurons. J Neurophysiol 47:75–90
Hume RI, Getting PA, Del Beccaro MA (1982) Motor organization of Tritonia swimming. I. Quantitative analysis of swim behavior and flexion neuron firing patterns. J Neurophysiol 47:60–74
Jing J, Gillette R (1995) Neuronal elements that mediate escape swimming and suppress feeding behavior in the predatory sea slug Pleurobranchaea. J Neurophysiol 74:1900–1910
Jing J, Gillette R (1999) Central pattern generator for escape swimming in the notaspid sea slug Pleurobranchaea californica. J Neurophysiol 81:654–667
Jing J, Gillette R (2000) Escape swim network interneurons have diverse roles in behavioral switching and putative arousal in Pleurobranchaea. J Neurophysiol 83:1346–1355
Jing J, Gillette R (2003) Directional avoidance turns encoded by single interneurons and sustained by multifunctional serotonergic cells. J Neurosci 23:3039–3051
Kabotyanskii EA, Sakharov DA (1991) Neuronal correlates of the serotonin-dependent behavior of the pteropod mollusc Clione limacina. Neurosci Behav Physiol 21:422–435
Katz PS (1991) Neuromodulation and the evolution of a simple motor system. Semin Neurosci 3:379–389
Katz PS, Harris-Warrick RM (1999) The evolution of neuronal circuits underlying species-specific behavior. Curr Opin Neurobiol 9:628–633
Katz PS, Newcomb JM (2006) A Tale of Two CPGs: Phylogenetically polymorphic networks. In: Kaas J (eds) Evolution of nervous systems, vol 1, Theories, Development, Invertebrates, Elsevier, Oxford UK, pp 367–374
Katz PS, Tazaki K (1992) Comparative and evolutionary aspects of the crustacean stomatogastric system. In: Harris-Warrick RM, Marder E, Selverston AI, Moulins M (eds) Dynamic biological networks. MIT, Cambridge
Katz PS, Getting PA, Frost WN (1994) Dynamic neuromodulation of synaptic strength intrinsic to a central pattern generator circuit. Nature 367:729–731
Katz PS, Fickbohm DJ, Lynn-Bullock CP (2001) Evidence that the central pattern generator for swimming in Tritonia arose from a non-rhythmic neuromodulatory arousal system: implications for the evolution of specialized behavior. Am Zool 41:962–975
Katz PS, Sakurai A, Clemens S, Davis D (2004) Cycle period of a network oscillator is independent of membrane potential and spiking activity in individual central pattern generator neurons. J Neurophysiol 92:1904–1917
Kavanau JL (1990) Conservative behavioral evolution, the neural substrate. Anim Behav 39:758–767
Kiehn O, Hounsgaard J, Sillar KT (1997) Basic building blocks of vertebrate spinal central pattern generators. In: Stein PSG, Grillner S, Selverston A (eds) Neurons, networks and motor behavior. MIT, Cambridge
Land PW, Crow T (1985) Serotonin immunoreactivity in the circumesophageal nervous system of Hermissenda crassicornis. Neurosci Lett 62:199–205
Langenbach GEJ, Van Eijden TMGJ (2001) Mammalian feeding motor patterns. Am Zool 41:1338–1351
Lloyd PE, Phares GE, Phillips NE, Willows AOD (1996) Purification and sequencing of neuropeptides from identified neurons in the marine mollusc, Tritonia. Peptides 17:17–23
Longley RD, Longley AJ (1986) Serotonin immunoreactivity of neurons in the gastropod Aplysia californica. J Neurobiol 17:339–358
Lucki I (1998) The spectrum of behaviors influenced by serotonin. Biol Psychiatry 44:151–162
Mackey SL, Carew TJ (1983) Locomotion in Aplysia: triggering by serotonin and bag cells extract. J Neurosci 3:1469–1477
Mackey SL, Kandel ER, Hawkins RD (1989) Identified serotonergic neurons LCB1 and RCB1 in the cerebral ganglia of Aplysia produce presynaptic facilitation of siphon sensory neurons. J Neurosci 9:4227–4235
Margoliash D, Fortune ES, Sutter ML, Yu AC, Wren-Hardin BD, Dave A (1994) Distributed representation in the song system of oscines: evolutionary implications and functional consequences. Brain Behav Evol 44:247–264
Marinesco S, Kolkman KE, Carew TJ (2004a) Serotonergic modulation in Aplysia. I. Distributed serotonergic network persistently activated by sensitizing stimuli. J Neurophysiol 92:2468–2486
Marinesco S, Wickremasinghe N, Kolkman KE, Carew TJ (2004b) Serotonergic modulation in Aplysia. II. Cellular and behavioral consequences of increased serotonergic tone. J Neurophysiol 92:2487–2496
McClellan AD, Brown GD, Getting PA (1994) Modulation of swimming in Tritonia: excitatory and inhibitory effects of serotonin. J Comp Physiol A 174:257–266
McLean IW, Nakane PK (1974) Periodate-lysine-paraformaldehyde fixative. A new fixation for immunoelectron microscopy. J Histochem Cytochem 22:1077–1083
McPherson D, Katz PS (2001) Identification of serotonergic cerebral neurons that project to the pedal ganglia of Aplysia californica. Program No. 943.10. Society for Neuroscience, Washington
Metzner W (1999) Neural circuitry for communication and jamming avoidance in gymnotiform electric fish. J Exp Biol 202:1365–1375
Newcomb JM, Katz PS (2003) Homologous serotonergic neurons in two molluscan species differentially participate in analogous locomotor behaviors. Program No. 403.7. Society for Neuroscience, Washington
Newcomb JM, Katz PS (2005) Evolution of central pattern generator circuitry in nudibranch molluscs: changes in the functions of identified neurons embedded in a common network. Program No. 752.2. Society for Neuroscience, Washington
Newcomb JM, Katz PS (2006) Patterns of neural evolution in nudibranch molluscs: functional divergence of homologous neurons embedded in a common neural network. Integr Comp Biol 45:1050
Newcomb JM, Fickbohm DJ, Katz PS (2006) Comparative mapping of serotonin-immunoreactive neurons in the central nervous systems of nudibranch molluscs. J Comp Neurol 499:485–505
Nishikawa KC, Anderson CW, Deban SM, O’Reilly JC (1992) The evolution of neural circuits controlling feeding behavior in frogs. Brain Behav Evol 40:125–140
Ono JK, McCaman RE (1984) Immunocytochemical localization and direct assays of serotonin-containing neurons in Aplysia. Neurosci 11:549–560
Palovcik RA, Basberg BA, Ram JL (1982) Behavioral state changes induced in Pleurobranchaea and Aplysia by serotonin. Behav Neural Biol 35:383–394
Panchin YV, Popova LB, Deliagina TG, Orlovsky GN, Arshavsky YI (1995) Control of locomotion in marine mollusk Clione limacina. VIII. Cerebropedal neurons. J Neurophysiol 73:1912–1923
Parsons DW, Pinsker HM (1989) Swimming in Aplysia brasiliana: behavioral and cellular effects of serotonin. J Neurophysiol 62:1163–1176
Paul DH (1991) Pedigrees of neurobehavioral circuits: tracing the evolution of novel behaviors by comparing motor patterns, muscles, and neurons in members of related taxa. Brain Behav Evol 38:226–239
Popescu IR, Willows AOD (1999) Sources of magnetic sensory input to identified neurons active during crawling in the marine mollusc Tritonia diomedea. J Exp Biol 202:3029–3036
Popescu IR, Frost WN (2002) Highly dissimilar behaviors mediated by a multifunctional network in the marine mollusk Tritonia diomedea. J Neurosci 22:1985–1993
Sakurai A, Katz PS (2003) Spike timing-dependent serotonergic neuromodulation of synaptic strength intrinsic to a central pattern generator circuit. J Neurosci 23:10745–10755
Sanderson SL (1988) Variation in neuromuscular activity during prey capture by trophic specialists and generalists (Pisces: Labridae). Brain Behav Evol 32:257–268
Satterlie RA, Norekian TP (1995) Serotonergic modulation of swimming speed in the pteropod mollusc Clione limacina III. Cerebral neurons. J Exp Biol 198:917–930
Satterlie RA, LaBarbera M, Spencer AN (1985) Swimming in the pteropod mollusc, Clione limacina I. Behaviour and morphology. J Exp Biol 116:189–204
Schmidt RS (1992) Neural correlates of frog calling: production by two semi-independent generators. Behav Brain Res 50:17–30
Shaw SR, Meinertzhagen IA (1986) Evolutionary progression at synaptic connections made by identified homologous neurons. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 83:7961–7965
Shaw SR, Moore D (1989) Evolutionary remodeling in a visual system through extensive changes in the synaptic connectivity of homologous neurons. Vis Neurosci 3:405–410
Smith KK (1994) Are neuromotor systems conserved in evolution? Brain Behav Evol 43:293–305
Striedter GF (1994) The vocal control pathways in budgerigars differ from those in songbirds. J Comp Neurol 343:35–56
Striedter GF, Northcutt RG (1991) Biological hierarchies and the concept of homology. Brain Behav Evol 38:177–189
Sudlow LC, Jing J, Moroz LL, Gillette R (1998) Serotonin immunoreactivity in the central nervous system of the marine molluscs Pleurobranchaea californica and Tritonia diomedea. J Comp Neurol 395:466–480
Thollesson M (1999) Phylogenetic analysis of Euthyneura (Gastropoda) by means of the 16S rRNA gene: use of a ‘fast’ gene for ‘higher-level’ phylogenies. Proc R Soc Lond B 266:75–83
Thompson S, Watson WH III (2005) Central pattern generator for swimming in Melibe. J Exp Biol 208:1347–1361
Thompson TE (1976) Biology of opisthobranch molluscs, vol. 1. Ray Society, London
Tian L-M, Kawai R, Crow T (2006) Serotonin-immunoreactive CPT interneurons in Hermissenda: identification of sensory input and motor projections. J Neurophysiol 96:327–335
Tierney AJ (1995) Evolutionary implications of neural circuit structure and function. Behav Processes 35:173–182
von der Porten K, Parsons DW, Rothman BS, Pinsker H (1982) Swimming in Aplysia brasiliana: analysis of behavior and neuronal pathways. Behav Neural Biol 36:1–23
Vonnemann V, Schrödl M, Klussmann-Kolb A, Wägele H (2005) Reconstruction of the phylogeny of the Opisthobranchia (Mollusca: Gastropoda) by means of 18S and 28S rRNA gene sequences. J Molluscan Stud 71:113–125
Wägele H, Willan RC (2000) Phylogeny of the Nudibranchia. Zool J Linn Soc 130:83–181
Wainwright PC (1989) Prey processing in Haemulid fishes: patterns of variation in pharyngeal jaw muscle activity. J Exp Biol 141:359–375
Wainwright PC (2002) The evolution of feeding motor patterns in vertebrates. Curr Opin Neurobiol 12:691–695
Watson WH III, Newcomb JM, Thompson S (2002) Neural correlates of swimming behavior in Melibe leonina. Biol Bull 203:152–160
Weijs WA, Dantuma R (1994) Evolutionary approach to masticatory motor patterns in mammals. Adv Comp Environ Physiol 18:281–320
Wiens BL, Brownell PH (1995) Neurotransmitter regulation of the heart in the nudibranch Archidoris montereyensis. J Neurophysiol 74:1639–1651
Wild JM (1994) The auditory–vocal–respiratory axis in birds. Brain Behav Evol 44:192–209
Wild JM (1997) Neural pathways for the control of birdsong production. J Neurobiol 33:653–670
Willows AOD (1967) Behavioral acts elicited by stimulation of single, identifiable brain cells. Science 157:570–574
Willows AOD, Dorsett DA, Hoyle G (1973) The neuronal basis of behavior in Tritonia. I. Functional organization of the central nervous system. J Neurobiol 4:207–237
Wilson JA, Phillips CE, Adams ME, Huber F (1982) Structural comparison of a homologous neuron in gryllid and acridid insects. J Neurobiol 13:459–467
Wollscheid-Lengeling E, Boore J, Brown W, Wägele H (2001) The phylogeny of Nudibranchia (Opisthobranchia, Gastropoda, Mollusca) reconstructed by three molecular markers. Org Divers Evol 1:241–256
Wright WG (2000) Neuronal and behavioral plasticity in evolution: experiments in a model lineage. Bioscience 50:883–894
Wright WG, Jones K, Sharp P, Maynard B (1995) Widespread anatomical projections of the serotonergic modulatory neuron, CB1, in Aplysia. Invert Neurosci 1:173–183
Xin Y, Koester J, Jing J, Weiss KR, Kupfermann I (2001) Cerebral–abdominal interganglionic coordinating neurons in Aplysia. J Neurophysiol 85:174–186
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Michael Baltzley for assistance in identifying Pd5 homologues, Evan Hill and Akira Sakurai for providing dye fills of Tritonia DSIs, Birgit Neuhaus and Priyal Shah for acquiring the confocal images, and Akira Sakurai for assistance with the spike shape analysis. We also thank Michael Baltzley, Shaun Cain, David Duggins, Erica Iyengar, James Murray, Thomas Pirtle, and Winsor Watson for collecting animals. Ronald Calabrese, Robert Calin-Jageman, Charles Derby, Joshua Lillvis, Dorothy Paul, Akira Sakurai, and two anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. These experiments complied with the “Principles of animal care”, publication No. 86-23, revised 1985 of the National Institute of Health, and also with the current laws of the USA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation, under Grant No. 0445768, and a GSU Research Program Enhancement grant to PSK.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Newcomb, J.M., Katz, P.S. Homologues of serotonergic central pattern generator neurons in related nudibranch molluscs with divergent behaviors. J Comp Physiol A 193, 425–443 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-006-0196-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-006-0196-4