form and function of the gastropod larval nervous system

许多世界上最丰富的生物体严重依赖于幼虫阶段，但对其形式和功能知之甚少。 海洋中充满了这种无脊椎动物的幼虫，它们可以扩散，从而确保种群的补充，持续的遗传多样性和新地理区域的殖民化。这种幼虫形式对于野生的经济重要物种是必不可少的，并在水产养殖中提出了挑战。 从基本生物学原理的角度来看，了解幼虫阶段对于解释随后的成年身体计划的发展以及世界所依赖的生物多样性的演变也是至关重要的。 我们的实验室，加上世界上只有少数其他实验室，最近在描述海洋生物最重要的门之一：软体动物的幼虫的形式和功能方面取得了重大进展。 在这个应用程序中，我们建议研究幼虫神经系统如何控制纤毛和肌肉用于产生游泳和摄食行为的常见潮间带蜗牛，Ilyanassa。 我们将首先使用我们手中已经证明有用的技术（免疫细胞化学，行为药理学）来识别神经系统中的神经递质并确定它们的作用。 然而，要了解单个神经元的功能，我们需要使用电生理学，再加上现代光学成像技术。 这些研究将涉及使用微电极穿刺单个幼虫神经元，可以用活体染色或DIC光学观察，并将允许研究细胞特征和突触连接。 同时注射染料可以显示详细的解剖结构。 我们还将转向最先进的光学成像技术，这将使我们能够研究单个神经元和细胞群的活动。 这些研究将包括在细胞水平上对软体动物幼虫神经系统的第一次详细分析，并为软体动物和门之间的未来比较提供基础。

Many of the world's most abundant organisms depend critically upon larval stages that are poorly understood in terms of their form and function. The seas are full of such invertebrate larvae, which permit dispersal and thus ensure replenishment of populations, continued genetic diversity and colonisation of novel geographic regions. Such larval forms are essential for economically important species in the wild and present challenges during aquaculture. From the perspective of fundamental biological principles, understanding larval stages is also essential for explaining the development of subsequent adult body plans and the evolution of the very biodiversity upon which the world relies. Our lab, together with only a handful of others worldwide, has recently made major inroads in describing the form and function of larvae of one of the most important phyla of marine organisms: the molluscs. In this application, we propose to examine how the larval nervous system controls the cilia and muscles used to generate swimming and feeding behaviours in the common intertidal snail, Ilyanassa. We will start by using techniques which have already proven useful in our hands (immunocytochemistry , behavioural pharmacology) to identify neurotransmitters in the nevous system and determine their roles. However, to understand the functions of individual neurons, we will need to use electrophysiology, coupled with modern optical imaging techniques. These studies will involve the use of microelectrodes to impale single larval neurons, which can be visualized with vital stains or DIC optics, and will permit the study of cellular characteristics and synaptic connections. Simultaneous dye injections will reveal detailed anatomy. We will also turn to state-of-the-art optical imaging techniques which will permit us to study activity of both single neurons and populations of cells. These studies will comprise the first detailed analyses of the larval nervous system of molluscs at the cellular level and provide a basis for future comparisons across the molluscs and between phyla.