Structure and Development of Neuronal Connections in Isogenic Organisms: Cellular Interactions in the Development of the Optic Lamina of Daphnia

Some details of the growth and initial cellular interactions of optic nerve axons were examined in a parthenogenetic clone of Daphnia magna. Results are summarized as follows: (i) the final structure of the optic lamina is dependent upon interactions between growing optic nerve fibers and optic lamina neuroblasts closest to the midplane of the animal, which trigger the morphological differentiation of the neuroblasts; the specificity of connections is achieved by well-defined sequences of cell migration in the ganglion; (ii) only one of the eight optic nerve axons growing back from each ommatidium in the eye possesses a structure similar to the growth cones seen on termini of nerve fibers growing in vitro; and (iii) undifferentiated neuroblasts in the ganglion react to surface contact by this "lead axon" by enveloping the axon in a glial-like relationship.