Synaptic Organization of Microglomerular Clusters in the Lateral and Medial Bulbs of the Honeybee Brain

The honeybee Apis mellifera is an established model for the study of visual orientation. Yet, research on this topic has focused on behavioral aspects and has neglected the investigation of the underlying neural architectures in the bee brain. In other insects, the anterior optic tubercle (AOTU), th...

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Main Authors:	Mota, Theo, Kreissl, Sabine, Carrasco Durán, Ana, Lefer, Damien, Galizia, Giovanni, Giurfa, Martin
Format:	Online
Language:	English
Published:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2016
Online Access:	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5088189/

id	pubmed-5088189
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	pubmed-50881892016-11-15 Synaptic Organization of Microglomerular Clusters in the Lateral and Medial Bulbs of the Honeybee Brain Mota, Theo Kreissl, Sabine Carrasco Durán, Ana Lefer, Damien Galizia, Giovanni Giurfa, Martin Neuroscience The honeybee Apis mellifera is an established model for the study of visual orientation. Yet, research on this topic has focused on behavioral aspects and has neglected the investigation of the underlying neural architectures in the bee brain. In other insects, the anterior optic tubercle (AOTU), the lateral (LX) and the central complex (CX) are important brain regions for visuospatial performances. In the central brain of the honeybee, a prominent group of neurons connecting the AOTU with conspicuous microglomerular synaptic structures in the LX has been recently identified, but their neural organization and ultrastructure have not been investigated. Here we characterized these microglomerular structures by means of immunohistochemical and ultrastructural analyses, in order to evaluate neurotransmission and synaptic organization. Three-dimensional reconstructions of the pre-synaptic and post-synaptic microglomerular regions were performed based on confocal microscopy. Each pre-synaptic region appears as a large cup-shaped profile that embraces numerous post-synaptic profiles of GABAergic tangential neurons connecting the LX to the CX. We also identified serotonergic broad field neurons that probably provide modulatory input from the CX to the synaptic microglomeruli in the LX. Two distinct clusters of microglomerular structures were identified in the lateral bulb (LBU) and medial bulb (MBU) of the LX. Although the ultrastructure of both clusters is very similar, we found differences in the number of microglomeruli and in the volume of the pre-synaptic profiles of each cluster. We discuss the possible role of these microglomerular clusters in the visuospatial behavior of honeybees and propose research avenues for studying their neural plasticity and synaptic function. Frontiers Media S.A. 2016-11-01 /pmc/articles/PMC5088189/ /pubmed/27847468 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnana.2016.00103 Text en Copyright © 2016 Mota, Kreissl, Carrasco Durán, Lefer, Galizia and Giurfa. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution and reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
repository_type	Open Access Journal
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building	NCBI PubMed
collection	Online Access
language	English
format	Online
author	Mota, Theo Kreissl, Sabine Carrasco Durán, Ana Lefer, Damien Galizia, Giovanni Giurfa, Martin
spellingShingle	Mota, Theo Kreissl, Sabine Carrasco Durán, Ana Lefer, Damien Galizia, Giovanni Giurfa, Martin Synaptic Organization of Microglomerular Clusters in the Lateral and Medial Bulbs of the Honeybee Brain
author_facet	Mota, Theo Kreissl, Sabine Carrasco Durán, Ana Lefer, Damien Galizia, Giovanni Giurfa, Martin
author_sort	Mota, Theo
title	Synaptic Organization of Microglomerular Clusters in the Lateral and Medial Bulbs of the Honeybee Brain
title_short	Synaptic Organization of Microglomerular Clusters in the Lateral and Medial Bulbs of the Honeybee Brain
title_full	Synaptic Organization of Microglomerular Clusters in the Lateral and Medial Bulbs of the Honeybee Brain
title_fullStr	Synaptic Organization of Microglomerular Clusters in the Lateral and Medial Bulbs of the Honeybee Brain
title_full_unstemmed	Synaptic Organization of Microglomerular Clusters in the Lateral and Medial Bulbs of the Honeybee Brain
title_sort	synaptic organization of microglomerular clusters in the lateral and medial bulbs of the honeybee brain
description	The honeybee Apis mellifera is an established model for the study of visual orientation. Yet, research on this topic has focused on behavioral aspects and has neglected the investigation of the underlying neural architectures in the bee brain. In other insects, the anterior optic tubercle (AOTU), the lateral (LX) and the central complex (CX) are important brain regions for visuospatial performances. In the central brain of the honeybee, a prominent group of neurons connecting the AOTU with conspicuous microglomerular synaptic structures in the LX has been recently identified, but their neural organization and ultrastructure have not been investigated. Here we characterized these microglomerular structures by means of immunohistochemical and ultrastructural analyses, in order to evaluate neurotransmission and synaptic organization. Three-dimensional reconstructions of the pre-synaptic and post-synaptic microglomerular regions were performed based on confocal microscopy. Each pre-synaptic region appears as a large cup-shaped profile that embraces numerous post-synaptic profiles of GABAergic tangential neurons connecting the LX to the CX. We also identified serotonergic broad field neurons that probably provide modulatory input from the CX to the synaptic microglomeruli in the LX. Two distinct clusters of microglomerular structures were identified in the lateral bulb (LBU) and medial bulb (MBU) of the LX. Although the ultrastructure of both clusters is very similar, we found differences in the number of microglomeruli and in the volume of the pre-synaptic profiles of each cluster. We discuss the possible role of these microglomerular clusters in the visuospatial behavior of honeybees and propose research avenues for studying their neural plasticity and synaptic function.
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2016
url	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5088189/
_version_	1613705846308470784

Synaptic Organization of Microglomerular Clusters in the Lateral and Medial Bulbs of the Honeybee Brain

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