Abstract
The cells of the cephalic papillary ganglia and of the lateral nerves, together with varicosities in the nerve ring which have previously been demonstrated to fluoresce after treatment with formaldehyde vapour, exhibit an emission spectrum characteristic of catecholamines. An analysis of the excitation spectrum of this fluorescence reveals peaks at 412 nm and at 320 nm. The former peak disappears after exposure of the tissues to HCl vapour and is replaced by a transient peak at 370 nm, while the 320 peak becomes more prominent. This behaviour is diagnostic of noradrenaline. The content of noradrenaline in the varicosities of the nerve ring and in the cells of the cephalic papillary ganglia as determined by quantitative fluorescence microscopy decreases after exposure to stimuli which initiate ecdysis. Application of noradrenaline to third stage larvae brings about ecdysis. Injection of noradrenaline into intact worms results in an increase in water content of the excretory cell, a phenomenon which is known to be an early event in the process of ecdysis. This increase in water content does not occur in worms which have been ligatured at the anterior end. Application of noradrenaline directly to exposed excretory cells fails to stimulate an increase in water content.
Publisher
Canadian Science Publishing
Subject
Animal Science and Zoology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Cited by
18 articles.
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