Egg-laying behavior in Aplysia californica

Arch, S.; Smock, Tim

doi:10.1016/s0091-6773(77)91331-1

Cited by 73 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Egg laying is a fixed action pattern that, like stereotyped reproductive behaviors in other animals, is complex and lasts for several hours. It involves alterations in locomotion, head movements, feeding (27), and visceromotor activity (28). These changes are thought to be regulated by transmitters and neurohormones that are released during the bag cell discharge in order to modify activity for appropriate lengths of time in neuronal circuits mediating the various elements of the behavior pattern (3,4,29).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primary structure and neuronal effects of α-bag cell peptide, a second candidate neurotransmitter encoded by a single gene in bag cell neurons of Aplysia

Rothman

Mayeri

et al. 1983

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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A discharge of impulse activity in a group of neuroendocrine cells, the bag cells, produces several types of prolonged responses in various identified neurons of the abdominal ganglion of Aplysia. Two excitatory responses are almost certainly mediated by egg-laying hormone, but this peptide cannot account for other responses, such as inhibition of left upper quadrant neurons. We report here the isolation from bag cell clusters of three structurally similar peptides, seven, eight, and nine residues long, that are candidate transmitters for mediating bag cell-induced inhibition. They may also serve as autoexcitatory transmitters since the seven-residue peptide produces a slow depolarization of the bag cells similar to that which occurs during bag cell discharge. The amino acid sequence of the largest peptide, termed a-bag cell peptide [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9], is H-Ala-Pro-Arg-Leu-Arg-Phe-Tyr-Ser-Leu-OH. The other two peptides are identical to a-BCP[I-9] except that they lack the COOH-terminal Ser-Leu or leucine residues. The three peptides inhibit left upper quadrant neurons at relative potencies of 10:30:1 (seven-, eight-, and nine-residue peptides, respectively). Recent molecular genetic analysis shows that both a-BCP [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and egg-laying hormone are encoded by the same bag cell-specific gene. The multiple neuronal effects of bag cells are therefore likely to be mediated by at least two transmitters that are cleaved from a common precursor molecule.The marine mollusk Aplysia is a convenient experimental system for investigating at the cellular and molecular levels the roles of neuropeptides as neurotransmitters and in the regulation of behavior. Egg laying in Aplysia is accompanied by a stereotyped behavioral pattern that lasts for several hours. The behavior pattern is thought to be initiated and controlled by the bag cells, a group of neuroendocrine cells located in the abdominal ganglion. In intact animals, egg laying is invariably preceded by a repetitive impulse discharge of the bag cells (1). In the isolated abdominal ganglion, where the central actions of the bag cells have been most extensively studied, a bag cell discharge produces at least four types of long-lasting excitatory and inhibitory effects on various identified neurons (2-4).To identify the neurotransmitters mediating these effects, extracts of bag cells have been purified and assayed for activity on various neurons. It has been determined that egg-laying hormone (ELH), a 4,400-dalton peptide that is synthesized and released by bag cells (5-8), is probably the neurotransmitter mediating two types of excitatory neuronal responses, burst augmentation of cell R15 and prolonged excitation of left lower quadrant (LLQ) neurons (9-11). However, when perfused into the abdominal ganglion at physiological concentrations, purified ELH has little or no effect on left upper quadrant (LUQ) neurons, cells L2-L4, L6, which are normally inhibited by bag cell discharge (10, 11). This indicates that ELH does not directly or in...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primary structure and neuronal effects of α-bag cell peptide, a second candidate neurotransmitter encoded by a single gene in bag cell neurons of Aplysia

Rothman

Mayeri

et al. 1983

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…In addition to these overt components S. M. Bernheim -E. Mayeri (~) Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143-0444, USA of the behavior, there are less readily observable or 'covert components', including the release of eggs from the ovotestis and possible changes in the homeostatic and/or visceromotor functions of the animal (Branton et al 1978a; see Skelton and Koester 1992). The overt aspects of the behavior were first described by Arch and Smock (1977). Subsequently, Cobbs and Pinsker (1982), and Ferguson et al (1989a, b) provided detailed descriptions of the temporal pattern of four head movements -waves, weaves, tamps and undulations -as well as inhibition of both locomotion and feeding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To elicit egg laying behavior, past studies used injections of bag cell extract (Arch and Smock 1977) or abdominal ganglion extract which included the bag cells (Arch and Smock 1977;Cobbs and Pinsker 1982), or electrical stimulation to trigger a bag cell burst discharge (Cobbs and Pinsker 1982;Ferguson etal. 1989a, b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complex behavior induced by egg-laying hormone in Aplysia

Bernheim

Mayeri

1995

J Comp Physiol A

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Previous studies have described a pattern of complex behavior that occurs in the marine mollusc Aplysia during egg laying. Egg laying and the behavior are initiated by a burst of impulse activity in the neuroendocrine bag cells of the abdominal ganglion or by injection of bag cell extract. To more precisely identify the factors responsible for inducing the behavior we injected animals with egg laying hormone (ELH), one of the neuropeptides secreted by the bag cells. We found that ELH causes a behavior pattern similar to what occurs during spontaneous egg laying. This includes a temporal pattern of head movements consisting of waves and undulations, followed near the beginning of egg deposition by a transition to head weaves and tamps and inhibition of locomotion. There was also a small decrease in respiratory pumping. Except for respiratory pumping, a similar pattern occurred in a second group of animals injected with atrial gland homogenate, which is presumed to induce bag cell activity, but not in controls. These results further implicate ELH in regulation of the behavior. We discuss possible sites of action of ELH and the neural mechanisms by which the behavior is controlled.

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“…Oviposition in molluscs is a behavioral act that is controlled by neuroendocrine cells in the central nervous system (CNS) (Arch and Smock, 1977;Pinsker and Dudek, 1977;Goldschmeding, Wilbrink, and Maat, 1983). Both in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis and several species of the genus Aplysia the neuroendocrine centers involved have been studied extensively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ring neuron control of columellar motor neurons during egg‐laying behavior in the pond snail

Jansen

Maat

1985

J. Neurobiol.

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Egg-laying in Lymnaea is characterized by the stereotyped egg-laying behavior (ELB), composed of foot contractions and shell movements. Egg-laying can be induced by a clean water stimulus, that triggers a discharge of the neuroendocrine caudo-dorsal cells (CDCs), which release the ovulation hormone into the blood. A part of the behavior is lost when egg-laying is triggered by hormone injection, indicating that during natural stimulus-induced or spontaneous egg-laying this part (the first phase) may be controlled by neuronal events in the CNS triggered by (a) factor(s) not released to the blood. The authors have identified an unpaired neuron, the ring neuron, that is excited during an in vitro afterdischarge of the CDCs, and which, by its numerous axonal branches in the pedal ganglia, modulates motorneurons of the columellar muscle, which controls shell movements. These motor-neurons, identified as such in reduced preparations by 1 for 1 muscle potentials and elements in the connecting nerve, all receive either excitatory or inhibitory input from the ring neuron, as well as from an unknown neuron which has common input of the ring neuron and the motorneurons. The action of the CDCs on the ring neuron cannot be mimicked by the ovulation hormone, and we therefore conclude that the first part of the ELB is probably caused by a nonhormonal local action of the CDCs on the ring neuron and possibly the common input neuron.

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Egg-laying behavior in Aplysia californica

Cited by 73 publications

References 13 publications

Primary structure and neuronal effects of α-bag cell peptide, a second candidate neurotransmitter encoded by a single gene in bag cell neurons of Aplysia

Primary structure and neuronal effects of α-bag cell peptide, a second candidate neurotransmitter encoded by a single gene in bag cell neurons of Aplysia

Complex behavior induced by egg-laying hormone in Aplysia

Ring neuron control of columellar motor neurons during egg‐laying behavior in the pond snail

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