Expression and translation of the egg-laying neuropeptide hormone genes during post-embryonic development of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis

1994 ◽  
Vol 275 (2) ◽  
pp. 369-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. P. J. De Lange ◽  
J. van Minnen ◽  
H. H. Boer
Author(s):  
Aleksandr Gorbunov ◽  
Dmitry Nikiforov-Nikishin ◽  
Oleg Gorbunov

The article highlights the research of embryonic development of hydrobionts under the influence of anthropogenic factors of water solutions – chlorobenzene and tetrachloroethylene. To detect the toxicity of chloride pollutants in a freshwater reservoir, representatives of benthic mollusks (big pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis L.) were used as a model organism. According to the results of research, it was found that at a concentration of 0.01 mg/l of chlorobenzene solution individual anomalies of embryonic development of the pond fish are observed, but at higher concentrations its development is delayed by 5-6 stages in comparison with the control. As an integral parameter of pond fish development, we can take indicators of the biological toxicity criterion: Hatchling and its survival over a 10-day period after leaving the egg shells. Changes in the physiological parameters of pond fish embryos begin with a chlorobenzene concentration of 0.01 mg/l; the maximum permissible concentration for tetrachloroethylene for the considered biological indicators should be considered 0.05 mg/l. It is noted that in big pond snail (Lymnaea stagnalis L.) the hatch of juveniles from egg shells is the most sensitive indicator when determining the toxicity of an aqueous solution; and less sensitive indicators are the number of eggs laid and the survival of juveniles in the first 10 days after hatching. The test object used is a large pond, which has shown a high sensitivity to contamination of the water environment with chlorinated ecotoxicants and can be recommended for a comprehensive quality assessment when biotesting freshwater waters


1993 ◽  
Vol 178 (1) ◽  
pp. 251-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. P. Ferguson ◽  
A. W. Pieneman ◽  
R. F. Jansen ◽  
A. Ter Maat

The egg-laying behaviour of gastropod molluscs is controlled by peptidergic neuroendocrine cells and has provided an important experimental system for behavioural neurobiology. The genes that code for multiple peptides have been sequenced and the peptides themselves have been identified, thus enabling us to investigate how they act on the nervous system to produce the overt behavioural pattern (reviewed by Geraerts et al. 1988). The two animals that have been studied most extensively are the opisthobranch Aplysia californica and the pulmonate Lymnaea stagnalis. In both cases, the peptidergic neurones controlling egg laying are normally electrically silent (both in vivo and in vitro; Kupfermann, 1967; Pinsker and Dudek, 1977; Kits, 1980; Ter Maat et al. 1986) and produce multiple peptides (Rothman et al. 1983; Geraerts et al. 1985; Sigvardt et al. 1986), which are cleaved from a common protein precursor (Scheller et al. 1983; Vreugdenhil et al. 1988). Before egg laying, the cells produce a long-lasting discharge of action potentials (Pinsker and Dudek, 1977; Ter Maat et al. 1986). This electrical discharge initiates egg-laying behaviour, and during it the peptides (one of which initiates ovulation) are released into the blood. The demonstration, in Aplysia californica, that these peptides could have various effects on the activity of central neurones (reviewed by Mayeri and Rothman, 1985) led to the hypothesis that egg-laying behaviour is a neuroendocrine fixed action pattern controlled and coordinated by the concerted actions of the released peptides (Scheller and Axel, 1984). This hypothesis is also thought to apply to Lymnaea stagnalis (Vreugdenhil et al. 1988) because of the structural similarities between precursors of Aplysia californica and Lymnaea stagnalis egg-laying hormones. In this paper we investigate how the sequence of the various components of the egg-laying behaviour pattern is achieved.


Author(s):  
M. Wilbrink ◽  
R. Zul ◽  
E.W. Roubos ◽  
A. ter Maat ◽  
T.A. de Vlieger ◽  
...  

1989 ◽  
Vol 164 (5) ◽  
pp. 673-683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andries Ter Maat ◽  
Anton W. Pieneman ◽  
Jan Tijmen Goldschmeding ◽  
Willem F. E. Smelik ◽  
Graham P. Ferguson

1989 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
R W Dirks ◽  
A K Raap ◽  
J Van Minnen ◽  
E Vreugdenhil ◽  
A B Smit ◽  
...  

To develop and optimize non-radioactive in situ hybridization techniques for mRNA detection, we used the neuropeptidergic system of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis as a biological model system. First, we investigated the in situ hybridization procedure using radioactive-labeled cDNA and synthetic oligonucleotide probes specific for egg-laying hormone (ELH) mRNA and molluscan insulin-like peptide (MIP) mRNA. The results show an intense grain deposit above the caudodorsal cells and light-green cells expressing, respectively, ELH mRNA and MIP mRNA. Good results with relation to signal strength and tissue morphology were obtained with freeze-dry paraformaldehyde vapor fixation. The necessity to perform tissue pre-treatment appeared to be dependent on the cell type of interest. The optimized in situ hybridization protocol proved to be applicable using probes that are either sulfonated/transaminated or labeled with acetylaminofluorene (AAF). In situ hybridization of such haptenized probes led to intense and specific staining of the cytoplasm of the caudodorsal cells. Egg-laying hormone mRNA appeared not to be homogeneously distributed in the cytoplasm but showed a "patch-like" pattern. Nuclear and axoplasmic staining for mRNA was also observed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
István Fodor ◽  
Réka Svigruha ◽  
Zsolt Bozsó ◽  
Gábor K. Tóth ◽  
Tomohiro Osugi ◽  
...  

AbstractIn vertebrates, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) peptide is the central mediator of reproduction. Homologous peptides have previously also been identified in molluscan species. However, emerging evidence suggests that these molecules might serve diverse regulatory functions and proposes to consider them as corazonin (CRZ). We previously isolated the full-length cDNA of the invGnRH/CRZ peptide (termed ly-GnRH/CRZ) in the well-established invertebrate model species, the great pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis; however, its predicted functions remain to be verified. In this study, we first confirmed the presence of the deduced active peptide from the central nervous system of L. stagnalis. Further, we performed in vivo and in vitro studies to explore the functions of ly-GnRH/CRZ. Injection of sexually mature specimens with synthetic active peptide had an inhibitory effect on locomotion and an acceleratory effect on egg-laying, but had no effect on feeding. The previously predicted modulatory effect of ly-GnRH/CRZ was supported by its identified co-localization with serotonin on the surface of the heart atria. Lastly, we demonstrated not only the presence of ly-GnRH/CRZ in the penial complex but also that ly-GnRH/CRZ-containing neurons project to the efferent penis nerve, suggesting ly-GnRH/CRZ may directly modulate the motor output of this peripheral tissue. Overall, our findings strongly support that ly-GnRH/CRZ is a multifunctional neuropeptide. These results contribute to the understanding of the GnRH superfamily and, more broadly, disciplines such as comparative endocrinology and neurobiology.


1994 ◽  
Vol 197 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-99
Author(s):  
P Hermann ◽  
A Maat ◽  
R Jansen

Behavioural and neurophysiological techniques were used to study the neuronal control of shell turning during egg-laying in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. Egg-laying consists of three phases: resting, turning and oviposition, and is triggered by an electrical discharge in a group of neuroendocrine cells, the caudodorsal cells. During the discharge, several peptides encoded on two CDCH genes are known to be released. Behavioural experiments in which different combinations of nerves were lesioned indicated that the inferior cervical nerves are necessary for turning behaviour to occur. The right inferior cervical nerve innervates the right dorsal longitudinal muscle and contains axons of neurones that are active just prior to, and during, shell movements in freely behaving animals. These axons are probably the axons of motor neurones. The motor neurones of the dorsal longitudinal muscle were identified in the cerebral A and pedal N clusters. We have demonstrated that there is a correlation between the state of excitability of the caudodorsal cells and the electrical activity of the pedal N motor neurones. Our results indicate that the pedal N motor neurones are involved in executing the turning phase during egg-laying.


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