Department of Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, Biozentrum, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.
Arthropod Struct Dev. 2011 Jul;40(4):358-67. doi: 10.1016/j.asd.2010.12.002. Epub 2010 Dec 24.
Mushroom bodies (MBs) are prominent neuropils in the insect brain involved in higher order processing such as sensory integration, learning and memory, and spatial orientation. The size and general morphology of MBs are diverse across insects. In this study we comparatively investigated the microstructure of synaptic complexes (microglomeruli) in major sensory input regions of the MBs, the calyces, across various neopteran insect species. Pre- and postsynaptic compartments of microglomeruli were analyzed using anti-synapsin immunocytochemistry, f-actin-phalloidin labeling and high-resolution confocal microscopy. Our results suggest that calycal microglomeruli are present across all investigated neopteran insect species, but differences are found in the distribution of synapsin and f-actin within their pre- and postsynaptic compartments. Hymenopteran MBs contain the highest number and packing density of microglomeruli compared to all other species from the different insect orders we investigated. We conclude that the evolution of high numbers of microglomeruli in Hymenoptera may reflect an increase in synaptic microcircuits, which could enhance the computational capacities of the MBs.
蘑菇体（MBs）是昆虫脑中突出的神经节，参与高级处理，如感觉整合、学习和记忆以及空间定位。MBs 的大小和一般形态在昆虫中是多种多样的。在这项研究中，我们比较研究了不同新翅目昆虫物种 MBs 的主要感觉输入区域——杯状结构中的突触复合物（微结）的微观结构。使用抗突触素免疫细胞化学、f-肌动蛋白-鬼笔环肽标记和高分辨率共聚焦显微镜分析微结的前后突触区。我们的结果表明，杯状微结存在于所有研究的新翅目昆虫物种中，但在前和后突触区中，突触素和 f-肌动蛋白的分布存在差异。与我们研究的不同昆虫目中的所有其他物种相比，膜翅目 MBs 含有最多数量和最高密度的微结。我们得出结论，膜翅目昆虫中大量微结的进化可能反映了突触微电路的增加，这可能增强了 MBs 的计算能力。
