Summary
The abdominal ganglia of the crayfish Astacus pallipes contain numerous vertebrate-like synapses which are characterized by presynaptic vesicles, darkened pre- and post-synaptic membranes, cleft material, and post-synaptic “fuzz”. Such synapses occur throughout the ganglia but are most easily found dorsally, where the neuropile is relatively coarse. The neuropile is far from homogeneous. Regional variations in fiber size, in degree of profile tortuosity, and in kind, magnitude, and distribution of vesicular content result in conspicuous textural variations. The structural polarity of synapses between the lateral giant fibers and other neurons is consistent with known physiological polarity and, hence, validates our criteria for recognition of synapses within the ganglion.
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The authors wish to thank Drs. Andrew Dorey and Vernon Barber for very helpful discussions and advice. We also wish to thank Drs. Donald Kennedy, Paula Orkand, Alan Roberts, and Jeffrey Wine for comments on versions of the manuscript.
F.B.K. is especially grateful to Prof. G. M. Hughes for extending to him the hospitality of the Bristol Zoology Department and to Dr. Dorey for introducing him to the methods of electron microscopy.
This work was supported by USPHS Grant 1-R01-NB-08108-NP.
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Krasne, F.B., Stirling, C.A. Synapses of crayfish abdominal ganglia with special attention to afferent and efferent connections of the lateral giant fibers. Z.Zellforsch 127, 526–544 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00306869
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00306869