NEURONS OF THE MEDIAN NEUROBLAST LINEAGE OF THE GRASSHOPPER - A POPULATION STUDY OF THE EFFERENT DUM NEURONS

A group of lineally related neurons in the grasshopper was studied to determine the number of efferent neurons in the group and their morphological types. The neurons arise from the median neuroblast of the third thoracic neuromere and comprise what is commonly known as the DUM or dorsal unpaired median group. Of some 92 neurons in the group, about 20 are efferent neurons, the remainder being local or intersegmental interneurons. As part of our continuing developmental studies, we wished to identify the efferent neurons within the lineage and to determine their number. Ten efferent DUM neurons had been described in earlier studies, where neurons were stained individually through microelectrodes. The remaining unidentified neurons might be novel types, multiples of known types, or both, possibilities that would not be readily distinguished through further staining of neurons individually. Rather, we used methods of retrograde staining and axon tracing that allowed us to examine the entire group of efferent DUM neurons. Nineteen efferent neurons were identified, comprising two DUM1s, five DUM3s, six DUM3,4s, three DUM3,4,5s, and three DUM5s; neurons were named according to the lateral nerves containing their axons. The efferent neurons were further divided by type according to the distribution of axonal branches in lateral nerves, the course of the primary neurite within the deep or superficial DUM tract, and the diameter of the cell body. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.