title: Purkinje cell compartmentation of the cerebellum of microchiropteran bats.
abstract: Transverse boundaries divide the mammalian cerebellar cortex into transverse zones, and within each zone the cortex is further subdivided into a symmetrical array of parasagittal stripes. This topography is highly conserved across the Mammalia. Bats have a remarkable cerebellum with presumed adaptations to flight and to echolocation, but nothing is known of its compartmentation. We have therefore used two Purkinje cell compartmentation antigens, zebrin II/aldolase C and phospholipase Cbeta4, to reveal the topography of the cerebellum in microchiropteran bats. Three species of bat were studied, Lasiurus cinereus, Lasionycteris noctivagans, and Eptesicus fuscus. A reproducible pattern of zones and stripes was revealed that is similar across the three species. The architecture of the bat cerebellum conforms to the ground plan of other mammals. However, two exceptions to the highly conserved mammalian architectural plan were revealed. First, many Purkinje cells in lobule I express zebrin II. A zebrin II-immunopositive lobule I has not been seen previously in mammals but is characteristic of the avian cerebellum. Second, lobules VI-VII comprise the large central zone. Within the central zone two subdomains are evident, a small anterior subdomain (lobule VI) in which Purkinje cells are predominantly zebrin II-immunopositive/PLCbeta4-immunonegative, as in other mammals, and a posterior subdomain (lobule VII), in which alternating zebrin II/phospholipase Cbeta4 stripes are prominent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Genes and Development Research Group, and Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N1, Canada.
authors.forename: Ji-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Marzban
authors.forename: Seung-Hyuk
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Leonard M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Eisenman
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hawkes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D064026:Calbindins; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000166:cytology*; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D054799:Phospholipase C beta / Q000378:metabolism; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G / Q000378:metabolism; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D064026:Calbindins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G; C092565:zebrin I; D054799:Phospholipase C beta