The first optic ganglion of the bee. IV. Synaptic fine structure and connectivity patterns of receptor cell axons and first order interneurones.

Abstract

The synaptic relationships between and within receptor-cell axons (RCAs), first-order interneurones (L-fibres) and accessory fibres (acc) in the first optic ganglion (the lamina) of the worker bee were studied in serial sections with Golgi-EM and routine transmission electron microscopy. The ommatidium contains nine retinular (photoreceptor) cells all of which project as RCAs to a single optical cartridge in the lamina. Six of the RCAs end as short visual fibres (svf) in the lamina, while the remaining three, the so-called long visual fibres (lvf), pass the lamina and end in the second optic ganglion, the medulla. In addition to the RCAs and an unknown number of accessory fibres, the cartridge also contains four L-fibres (L1--4). The spatial arrangement of the RCAs and L-fibres within a cartridge is constant throughout the depth of the lamina. Serial sections reveal a great number of chemical synapses interconnecting RCAs, L-and ace fibres. Double T-shaped presynaptic dense projections are surrounded and in close association with either spherical or flattened synaptic vesicles. The finding of gap junctions between and within identified RCAs and L-fibres suggest that these axons may be electronically coupled. A model for information processing in the lamina of the bee is suggested from observations of synaptic connectivity between and within fibres of one cartridge.