Letter | Published:

Pathway selection by growth cones of identified motoneurones in live zebra fish embryos

Nature 320, 269–271 (1986) | Download Citation

Subjects

Abstract

How is the adult pattern of connections between motoneurones and the muscles that they innervate established during vertebrate development? Populations of motoneurones are thought to follow one of two patterns of development: (1) motor axons initially follow stereotyped pathways1 and project to appropriate regions of the developing muscle2–4 or (2) motor axons initially project to some regions that are incorrect, the inappropriate projections being eliminated subsequently5–9. Here we observed individually identified motoneurones in live zebra fish embryos as they formed growth cones and as their growth cones navigated towards their targets. We report that from axogenesis, each motor axon followed a stereotyped pathway and projected only to the specific region of the muscle appropriate for its adult function10. In addition, the peripheral arbor established by each motoneurone was restricted to a stereotyped region of its own segment and did not overlap with the peripheral arbor of the other motoneurones in that segment. We conclude that the highly stereotyped pattern of innerva-tion seen in the adult is due to initial selection of the appropriate pathway, rather than elimination of incorrect projections.

Access optionsAccess options

Rent or Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

from$8.99

Rent or Buy

All prices are NET prices.

References

  1. 1

    Lance-Jones, C. & Landmesser, L. Proc. R. Soc. B214, 1–18 (1981).

  2. 2

    Hollyday, M. Curr. Topics dev. Biol. 15, 181–215 (1980).

  3. 3

    Hollyday, M. in Limb Development and Regeneration (eds Fallon, J. F. & Caplan, A. L.) 183–193 (Liss, New York, 1983).

    • 4

      Landmesser, L. A. Rev. Neurosci. 3, 279–302 (1980).

    • 5

      Pettigrew, A., Lindeman, R. & Bennett, M. R. J. Embryol. exp. Morph. 49, 115–137 (1979).

    • 6

      Lamb, A. H. Devl Biol. 54, 82–99 (1976).

    • 7

      Lamb, A. H. Brain Res. 134, 145–150 (1977).

    • 8

      Lamb, A. H. Devl Biol. 71, 8–21 (1979).

    • 9

      McGrath, P. A. & Bennett, M. R. Devl Biol. 69, 133–145 (1979).

    • 10

      Westerfield, M., Myers, P. Z. & Eisen, J. S. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 10, 371 (1984).

    • 11

      Blight, A. R. J. comp. Neurol. 180, 679–690 (1978).

    • 12

      Myers, P. Z. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 9, 848 (1983).

    • 13

      Westerfield, M., McMurray, J. & Eisen, J. S. J. Neurosci. (in the press).

      • 14

        Eisen, J. S., Myers, P. Z. & Westerfield, M. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 11, 586 (1985).

      • 15

        Raper, J., Bastiani, M. J. & Goodman, C. S. J. Neurosci. 3, 20–30 (1983).

      • 16

        Raper, J., Bastiani, M. J. & Goodman, C. S. J. Neurosci. 3, 31–41 (1983).

      • 17

        Eisen, J. S., Myers, P. Z. & Westerfield, M. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 10, 371 (1984).

      • 18

        Speidel, C. C. j. Anat. 52, 1–79 (1933).

      • 19

        Weisblat, D. A., Zackson, S. L., Blair, S. S. & Young, J. D. Science 209, 1538–1541 (1980).

      • 20

        Kimmel, C. B. & Law, R. Devl Biol. 108, 78–85 (1985).

      • 21

        Kimmel, C. B. & Law, R. Devl Biol. 108, 94–101 (1985).

      • 22

        Miller, J. P. & Selverston, A. I. Science 206, 702–704 (1979).

      • 23

        Kater, S. B. & Hadley, R. D. in Cytochemical Methods in Neuroanatomy (ed. Chan-Palay, V.) 441–459 (Liss, New York, 1982).

        • 24

          Kater, S. B. & Hadley, R. D. Trends Neurosci. 5, 80–82 (1982).

        Download references

        Author information

        Affiliations

        1. Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, 97403, USA

          • Judith S. Eisen
          • , Paul Z. Myers
          •  & Monte Westerfield

        Authors

        1. Search for Judith S. Eisen in:

        2. Search for Paul Z. Myers in:

        3. Search for Monte Westerfield in:

        To obtain permission to re-use content from this article visit RightsLink.

        About this article

        Publication history

        Received

        Accepted

        Issue Date

        DOI

        https://doi.org/10.1038/320269a0

        Further reading

        Comments

        By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.