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Fine structure and elemental analysis of the enamel in the cryptobranchid salamander Megalobatrachus japonicus.

Teeth from Megalobatrachus japonicus were prepared for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron microprobe analyzer (EMPA) to assay the elements of the enamel layer. The enamel layer of each of tooth is thin and the arrangement of the enamel crystals is regular in the Megalobatrachus japonicus. Based on calcium, phosphate and magnesium levels of distribution, the calcification level of the enamel layer differs between the labial and lingual surfaces. Concentrations of iron and fluoride are located in both portions of the enamel layer as well. The presence of trace elements and distribution of calcified levels are related to the mineral formation in the enamel layer and function of the teeth during feeding.

Animals↗

The eyeless mutant Mexican salamander (Ambystoma mexicanum): evidence for an imbalanced anteroposterior morphogenetic system.

Prospective anterolateral neural fold was grafted from normal axolotls into the posterior neural fold region (statocyst area) of eyeless mutant hosts. These unilateral anteroposterior grafts stimulated bilateral eye formation in the eyeless mutant at a rate of 79%. Replacing the statocyst area of mutants with the statocyst area from normals stimulated bilateral eye formation in 49% of the cases. Grafting of prospective anterolateral neural fold between normals and mutants or excising the statocyst region of mutants, had no effect. The results are interpreted on the basis of a hypothetical anteroposterior morphogenetic system that might be out of balance in the mutant.

Ambystoma mexicanum↗

[The characteristics of osteoclast localization in the bones of the extremities of the crested salamander Pleurodeles waltlii].

Localization of polynuclear osteoclasts in limb bones of ribbed newt were analyzed in consideration of calcium content in different bone structures. With using the methods of light and scanning electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis it was shown that a critical level of cartilage calcification is need to activate osteoclasts. Osseous tissue can bind more calcium salt without resorption.

Animals↗

Three levels of lateral inhibition: A space-time study of the retina of the tiger salamander.

The space-time patterns of activity generated across arrays of retinal neurons can provide a sensitive measurement of the effects of neural interactions underlying retinal activity. We measured the excitatory and inhibitory components associated with these patterns at each cellular level in the retina and further dissected inhibitory components pharmacologically. Using perforated and loose patch recording, we measured the voltages, currents, or spiking at 91 lateral positions covering approximately 2 mm in response to a flashed 300-microm-wide bar. First, we showed how the effect of well known lateral inhibition at the outer retina, mediated by horizontal cells, evolved in time to compress the spatial representation of the stimulus bar at ON and OFF bipolar cell bodies as well as horizontal cells. Second, we showed, for the first time, how GABA(C) receptor mediated amacrine cell feedback to bipolar terminals compresses the spatial representation of the stimulus bar at ON bipolar terminals over time. Third, we showed that a third spatiotemporal compression exists at the ganglion cell layer that is mediated by feedforward amacrine cells via GABA(A) receptors. These three inhibitory mechanisms, via three different receptor types, appear to compensate for the effects of lateral diffusion of activity attributable to dendritic spread and electrical coupling between retinal neurons. As a consequence, the width of the final representation at the ganglion cell level approximates the dimensions of the original stimulus bar.

Action Potentials↗

[Studies on the origin of various blood cell lines in the salamander Pleurodeles waltlii (author's transl)].

Grafting of haemopoietic organs was performed at several developmental stages between diploid and autotetraploid individuals of Pleurodeles waltlii. The difference in size between diploid and tetraploid cells is so obvious that their identification is possible by direct microscopic examination. To avoid immunological rejection, the grafts have been made with inbred animals. 2. After grafting the spleen, the host cells are observed to colonize it. This phenomenon is more important with spleens from donors at early stages of development. When the spleen from a late larval stage or a metamorphosed animal is transplanted into another larva, the blood of the latter contains 66 or 72% erythrocytes originating from the graft. 3. Embryonic liver grafting is followed by a colonization of all haemopoietic organs by cells originating from the granulopoietic tissue of the graft. The proportion of grafted blood cells is then very high. A liver graft performed at a larval stage gives qualitatively similar results but the numbers of cells originating from the graft are lower. A survey of intra-cardiac erythropoiesis in these animals shows that it develops from stream blood cells and not from cardiac endothelial cells. 4. After thymus graft, the lymphoid part of the organ is replaced by the host cells. 5. From these results, it is suggested that the granulopoietic liver tissue contains one or several kinds of stem cells which could differentiate into all types of blood cells.

Animals↗

Slow Na+ inactivation and variance adaptation in salamander retinal ganglion cells.

The retina adapts to the temporal contrast of the light inputs. One component of contrast adaptation is intrinsic to retinal ganglion cells: temporal contrast affects the variance of the synaptic inputs to ganglion cells, which alters the gain of spike generation. Here we show that slow Na+ inactivation is sufficient to produce the observed variance adaptation. Slow inactivation caused the Na+ current available for spike generation to depend on the past history of activity, both action potentials and subthreshold voltage variations. Recovery from slow inactivation required several hundred milliseconds. Increased current variance caused the threshold for spike generation to increase, presumably because of the decrease in available Na+ current. Simulations indicated that slow Na+ inactivation could account for the observed decrease in excitability. This suggests a simple picture of how ganglion cells contribute to contrast adaptation: (1) increasing contrast causes an increase in input current variance that raises the spike rate, and (2) the increased spike rate reduces the available Na+ current through slow inactivation, which feeds back to reduce excitability. Cells throughout the nervous system face similar problems of accommodating a large range of input signals; furthermore, the Na+ currents of many cells exhibit slow inactivation. Thus, adaptation mediated by feedback modulation of the Na+ current through slow inactivation could serve as a general mechanism to control excitability in spiking neurons.

Action Potentials↗

Bandpass filtering at the rod to second-order cell synapse in salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) retina.

The ability to see at night relies on the transduction of single photons by the rod photoreceptors and transmission of the resulting signals through the retina. Using paired patch-clamp recordings, we investigated the properties of the first stage of neural processing of the rod light responses: signal transfer from rods to bipolar and horizontal cells. Bypassing the relatively slow phototransduction process and directly modulating the rod voltage or current allowed us to characterize signal transfer over a wide range of temporal frequencies. We found that the rod to second-order cell synapse acts as a bandpass filter, preferentially transmitting signals with frequencies between 1.5 and 4 Hz while attenuating higher and lower frequency inputs. The similarity of the responses in different types of postsynaptic cell and the properties of miniature EPSCs (mEPSCs) recorded in OFF bipolar cells suggest that most of the bandpass filtering is mediated presynaptically. Modeling of the network of electrically coupled rod photoreceptors suggests that spread of the signal through the network contributed to the observed high-pass filtering but not to the low-pass filtering. Attenuation of low temporal frequencies at the first retinal synapse sharpens the temporal resolution of the light response; attenuation of high temporal frequencies removes voltage noise in the rod that threatens to swamp the light response.

Animals↗