The action of nitric oxide (NO) and the distribution of putative nitric oxide synthase-containing cells in the pelagic pteropod mollusc Clione limacina were studied using nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase (NADPH-d) histochemistry and conventional microelectrode techniques in the isolated central nervous system and in semi-intact preparations. The majority of NADPH-d-reactive neuronal somata were restricted to the cerebral ganglia. The labeled cells were small in diameter (20-30 microm) and were located in the medial areas of the ganglia. A pair of symmetrical neurons was found in the peripheral "olfactory organ." NADPH-d-reactive non-neuronal cells were detected in the periphery and were mainly associated with secretorylike cells and organs of the renopericardial system. The NO donor, diethylamine NO complex sodium salt (10-100 microM), activated neurons from both feeding and locomotory circuits. The cGMP analog, 8-Br-cGMP, mimicked the effects of NO on neurons. We suggest that NO is an endogenous neuromodulator involved in the control of some aspects of feeding and locomotor behavior of Clione.

During serotonin-induced swim acceleration in the pteropod mollusk Clione limacina, interneurons of the central pattern generator (CPG) exhibit significant action potential narrowing. Spike narrowing is apparently necessary for increases in cycle frequency during swim acceleration because, in the absence of narrowing, the combined duration of the spike and the inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP) of a single cycle is greater than the available cycle duration. Spike narrowing could negatively influence synaptic efficacy in all interneuron connections, including reciprocal inhibitory connections between the two groups of antagonistic CPG interneurons as well as the interneuron-to-motoneuron connections. Thus compensatory mechanisms must exist to produce the overall excitatory behavioral change of swim acceleration. Such mechanisms include 1) a baseline depolarization of interneurons, which brings them closer to spike threshold, 2) enhancement of their postinhibitory rebound, and 3) direct modulation of swim motoneurons and muscles, all through inputs from serotonergic modulatory neurons.

The action of nitric oxide (NO) and the distribution of putative nitric oxide synthase-containing cells in the pelagic pteropod mollusc Clione limacina were studied using nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase (NADPH-d) histochemistry and conventional microelectrode techniques in the isolated central nervous system and in semi-intact preparations. The majority of NADPH-d-reactive neuronal somata were restricted to the cerebral ganglia. The labeled cells were small in diameter (20-30 microm) and were located in the medial areas of the ganglia. A pair of symmetrical neurons was found in the peripheral "olfactory organ." NADPH-d-reactive non-neuronal cells were detected in the periphery and were mainly associated with secretorylike cells and organs of the renopericardial system. The NO donor, diethylamine NO complex sodium salt (10-100 microM), activated neurons from both feeding and locomotory circuits. The cGMP analog, 8-Br-cGMP, mimicked the effects of NO on neurons. We suggest that NO is an endogenous neuromodulator involved in the control of some aspects of feeding and locomotor behavior of Clione.