title: The role of the cerebral ganglia in the venom-induced behavioral manipulation of cockroaches stung by the parasitoid jewel wasp.
abstract: The jewel wasp stings cockroaches and injects venom into their cerebral ganglia, namely the subesophageal ganglion (SOG) and supraesophageal ganglion (SupOG). The venom induces a long-term hypokinetic state, during which the stung cockroach shows little or no spontaneous walking. It was shown that venom injection to the SOG reduces neuronal activity, thereby suggesting a similar effect of venom injection in the SupOG. Paradoxically, SupOG-ablated cockroaches show increased spontaneous walking in comparison with control. Yet most of the venom in the SupOG of cockroaches is primarily concentrated in and around the central complex (CX). Thus the venom could chiefly decrease activity in the CX to contribute to the hypokinetic state. Our first aim was to resolve this discrepancy by using a combination of behavioral and neuropharmacological tools. Our results show that the CX is necessary for the initiation of spontaneous walking, and that focal injection of procaine to the CX is sufficient to induce the decrease in spontaneous walking. Furthermore, it was shown that artificial venom injection to the SOG decreases walking. Hence our second aim was to test the interactions between the SupOG and SOG in the venom-induced behavioral manipulation. We show that, in the absence of the inhibitory control of the SupOG on walking initiation, injection of venom in the SOG alone by the wasp is sufficient to induce the hypokinetic state. To summarize, we show that venom injection to either the SOG or the CX of the SupOG is, by itself, sufficient to decrease walking.
authors: Department of Life Sciences and the Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel.
authors: Maayan
authors: M
authors: Kaiser
authors: Department of Life Sciences and the Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel libersat@bgu.ac.il.
authors: Frederic
authors: F
authors: Libersat
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D003058:Cockroaches / Q000469:parasitology / Q000502:physiology*; D017952:Ganglia, Invertebrate / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009068:Movement; D011343:Procaine / Q000494:pharmacology; D014862:Wasp Venoms / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014863:Wasps
chemical_list: D014862:Wasp Venoms; D011343:Procaine
keywords: Behavioral manipulation; Central complex; Cockroach; Locomotion; Parasitoid; Subesophageal ganglion; Supraesophageal ganglion; Wasp