From bristle to brain: embryonic development of topographic projections from basiconic sensilla in the antennal nervous system of the locust Schistocerca gregaria.

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The antennal flagellum of the locust S. gregaria is an articulated structure bearing a spectrum of sensilla that responds to sensory stimuli. In this study, we focus on the basiconic-type bristles as a model for sensory system development in the antenna. At the end of embryogenesis, these bristles are found at fixed locations and then on only the most distal six articulations of the antenna. They are innervated by a dendrite from a sensory cell cluster in the underlying epithelium, with each cluster directing fused axons topographically to an antennal tract running to the brain. We employ confocal imaging and immunolabeling to (a) identify mitotically active sense organ precursors for sensory cell clusters in the most distal annuli of the early embryonic antenna; (b) observe the subsequent spatial appearance of their neuronal progeny; and (c) map the spatial and temporal organization of axon projections from such clusters into the antennal tracts. We show that early in embryogenesis, proliferative precursors are localized circumferentially within discrete epithelial domains of the flagellum. Progeny first appear distally at the antennal tip and then sequentially in a proximal direction so that sensory neuron populations are distributed in an age-dependent manner along the antenna. Autotracing reveals that axon fasciculation with a tract is also sequential and reflects the location and age of the cell cluster along the most distal annuli. Cell cluster location and bristle location are therefore represented topographically and temporally within the axon profile of the tract and its projection to the brain.