Glial processes, identified through their glial-specific 130 kD surface glycoprotein, are juxtaposed to sites of neurogenesis in the leech germinal plate.

Glial processes, bearing a unique 130 kD surface protein, are located at key sites of morphogenic movement and neuronal differentiation in the leech germinal plate. A midline glial fascicle resides at the primary axis of embryonic symmetry, alongside which teloblasts move as they generate their bandlets of stem cells. The n-bandlets straddle the midline glia and are known to produce most of the central neuroblasts. The midline glia then defasciculates as neuroblasts begin to aggregate into neuromeres. The defasciculated processes expand into these neuromeres, molding the future central neuropile. Neuroblasts will initiate primary axons toward the midline glia. As the neuromeres mature, midline glial process thin out to demarcate the orientation of the future connectives, which are the major longitudinal axon tracts along the midline. Next, segmental but still primordial glia appear in the neuromeres. Initially, they also project longitudinally, then transversely, demarcating the other two major axonal pathways--the central commissures and peripheral roots. Finally, macroglial processes proliferate as massive axon growth invades the central and peripheral nervous system. Thus, glial processes with different developmental histories accompany different aspects of leech neurogenesis. In other systems, glia have been shown to promote the differentiation and the guidance of neurons. It remains to be seen whether the glial-specific 130 kD protein is a receptor mediating these typical glial functions in the leech germinal plate.