Bernheim S M, Mayeri E
Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0444.
J Comp Physiol A. 1995 Jan;176(1):131-6. doi: 10.1007/BF00197759.
Previous studies have described a pattern of complex behavior that occurs in the marine mollusc Aplysia during egg laying. Egg laying and the behavior are initiated by a burst of impulse activity in the neuroendocrine bag cells of the abdominal ganglion or by injection of bag cell extract. To more precisely identify the factors responsible for inducing the behavior we injected animals with egg laying hormone (ELH), one of the neuropeptides secreted by the bag cells. We found that ELH causes a behavior pattern similar to what occurs during spontaneous egg laying. This includes a temporal pattern of head movements consisting of waves and undulations, followed near the beginning of egg deposition by a transition to head weaves and tamps and inhibition of locomotion. There was also a small decrease in respiratory pumping. Except for respiratory pumping, a similar pattern occurred in a second group of animals injected with atrial gland homogenate, which is presumed to induce bag cell activity, but not in controls. These results further implicate ELH in regulation of the behavior. We discuss possible sites of action of ELH and the neural mechanisms by which the behavior is controlled.
先前的研究描述了海洋软体动物海兔在产卵过程中出现的一种复杂行为模式。产卵及相关行为由腹神经节的神经内分泌袋状细胞中的一阵冲动活动引发，或者通过注射袋状细胞提取物来启动。为了更精确地确定引发该行为的因素，我们给动物注射了产卵激素（ELH），这是袋状细胞分泌的一种神经肽。我们发现，ELH会引发一种与自发产卵时相似的行为模式。这包括头部运动的时间模式，由波浪状和起伏组成，在卵沉积开始时附近会转变为头部摆动和捣动，并抑制运动。呼吸泵动也有小幅减少。除了呼吸泵动外，在注射了心房腺匀浆的第二组动物中也出现了类似模式，心房腺匀浆据推测会诱导袋状细胞活动，但在对照组中未出现。这些结果进一步表明ELH参与了该行为的调节。我们讨论了ELH可能的作用位点以及控制该行为的神经机制。
