Cytophysiology of neurosecretory axon terminals in the brain of an annelid (Ophryotrocha puerilis, Polychaeta)

Summary

In the posterior part of the brain of the protandric polychaete Ophryotrocha puerilis neurosecretory cells form prominent axon terminals. The terminals are arranged in two complexes. The perikarya of these presumably monopolar neurons are scattered in the anterior part of the cerebral perikaryal layer. In females the terminals store large amounts of neurosecretory material. It has been suggested earlier that neurosecretions of the terminals may play a role during sex reversal from females to males. Application of histamine caused the release of neurosecretory material from the respective terminals in females. However, this discharge was not followed by sex reversal. Application of reserpine had no influence on the terminals. Neither by in vivo observation nor by ultrastructural analysis any effect of reserpine on the terminal complexes could be observed. In isolated terminals filled with neurosecretory material from females, catecholamines could not be detected by HPLC. Also, polyclonal antibodies against dopamine did not stain the terminal complexes. Furthermore, the complexes did not develop any fluorescence after glyoxylic acid treatment. Therefore, the present results contradict the hypothesis that the neurosecretory material of the respective axon terminals is catecholaminergic and that it is involved in sex differentiation. The function of the secretory neurons studied here remains unclear.