title: Single-cell analysis of peptide expression and electrophysiology of right parietal neurons involved in male copulation behavior of a simultaneous hermaphrodite.
abstract: Male copulation is a complex behavior that requires coordinated communication between the nervous system and the peripheral reproductive organs involved in mating. In hermaphroditic animals, such as the freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis, this complexity increases since the animal can behave both as male and female. The performance of the sexual role as a male is coordinated via a neuronal communication regulated by many peptidergic neurons, clustered in the cerebral and pedal ganglia and dispersed in the pleural and parietal ganglia. By combining single-cell matrix-assisted laser mass spectrometry with retrograde staining and electrophysiology, we analyzed neuropeptide expression of single neurons of the right parietal ganglion and their axonal projections into the penial nerve. Based on the neuropeptide profile of these neurons, we were able to reconstruct a chemical map of the right parietal ganglion revealing a striking correlation with the earlier electrophysiological and neuroanatomical studies. Neurons can be divided into two main groups: (i) neurons that express heptapeptides and (ii) neurons that do not. The neuronal projection of the different neurons into the penial nerve reveals a pattern where (spontaneous) activity is related to branching pattern. This heterogeneity in both neurochemical anatomy and branching pattern of the parietal neurons reflects the complexity of the peptidergic neurotransmission involved in the regulation of male mating behavior in this simultaneous hermaphrodite.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. z.elfilali@vu.nl.|Department of Neurosciences, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. z.elfilali@vu.nl.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: El Filali
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: P A C M
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: de Boer
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Pieneman
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R P J
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: de Lange
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institute for Ornithology, Behavioral Neurobiology, Seewiesen, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ter Maat
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: van der Schors
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: van Straalen
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Koene
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000166:cytology; D003307:Copulation / Q000502:physiology*; D012734:Disorders of Sex Development / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D017952:Ganglia, Invertebrate / Q000166:cytology; D008195:Lymnaea / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D009532:Nickel / Q000378:metabolism; D010413:Penis / Q000294:innervation / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010455:Peptides / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D009532:Nickel
keywords: FMRFamide; Hermaphroditism; Lymnaea stagnalis; MALDI-TOF-MS; Male mating; Neuropeptides; Penial nerve; Right parietal ganglion