BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 April 2001 NO/cGMP Signaling and the Flexible Organization of Motor Behavior in Crustaceans
Nathaniel L. Scholz
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The basic elements of the NO/cGMP signaling pathway have been identified in the nervous systems of animals from nearly all of the major phyla. In crustaceans, the NO/cGMP pathway is associated with certain fundamental neuronal processes, including sensory integration and the organization and production of motor behavior. Here I review the evidence for NO synthesis and action in crustacean neural networks, with an emphasis on the rhythmic motor circuits of the crab stomatogastric ganglion (STG). In the STG, NO appears to be released as an orthograde transmitter from descending projection neurons. NO's receptor, a cytopasmic isoform of guanylate cyclase (sGC), is expressed in a subset of the cells that participate in the gastric mill and pyloric central pattern generating networks. In spontaneously-active, in vitro preparations of the STG, pharmacological inhibitors of the NO/cGMP pathway cause the two rhythmic motor patterns to collapse into a single conjoint rhythm. Parallel motor output is restored when the ganglion is returned to normal saline. Although precise mechanisms have yet to be determined, these data suggest that NO and cGMP play an important role in the functional organization of STG networks. The STG, as well as other crustacean models, provides a promising context for studying the physiological and behavioral aspects of NO-mediated signaling in the nervous system.

Nathaniel L. Scholz "NO/cGMP Signaling and the Flexible Organization of Motor Behavior in Crustaceans," American Zoologist 41(2), 292-303, (1 April 2001). https://doi.org/10.1668/0003-1569(2001)041[0292:NCSATF]2.0.CO;2
Published: 1 April 2001
JOURNAL ARTICLE
12 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top