The Antennal Motor System of Crickets: Proctolin in Slow and Fast Motoneurons as Revealed by Double Labelling

Abstract

This study describes proctolin-like immunoreactivity (PLI) of identified antennal motoneurons in the brain of adult crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus). The motoneurons were first backfilled with the fluorescent dye Lucifer Yellow and then immunohistochemically labelled with an antibody against proctolin. Altogether 14 of the 17 excitatory antennal motoneurons, including physiologically fast and slow types, showed PLI. The only common inhibitor consistently demonstrated a weak positive PLI. PLI was also present in the dendritic arborizations and varicosities of motor axons in the intrinsic antennal muscles. Densitometric measurements of motoneuron somata showed significant differences in the intensity of PLI in different types of antennal motoneurons, suggesting that antennal motoneurons produce different amounts of proctolin. Identical motoneuron somata display a large variance of PLI intensities in different brains. This observation may indicate up- and down-regulation of proctolin in individual crickets.