Cell lineage, cell death, and the developmental origin of identified serotonin- and dopamine-containing neurons in the leech

The nervous system of the glossiphoniid leech includes segmentally iterated neurons that contain serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine. These have been investigated in Helobdella triserialis, Theromyzon rude, and Haementeria ghilianii. Five types of 5-HT neurons are identified by immunocytochemistry in the abdominal ganglia of the ventral nerve cord: the bilaterally paired Retzius, anteromedial, ventrolateral and dorsolateral neurons, and the unpaired posteromedial (pm) neuron. Three types of bilaterally paired dopamine neurons are identified by glyoxylic acid-induced fluorescence in the segmental body wall: MD, LD1, and LD2. Each left or right half of the segmental complement of the leech nervous system is known to develop from 6 distinct ectodermal primary blast cells (ns, nf, o, p, qs, and qf). To identify the blast cells of origin of the 5-HT and dopamine neurons, fluorescent cell lineage tracers were injected into the various precursors of the blast cells in early (stage 6) embryos. The embryos were then raised until their 5-HT and dopamine neurons could be scored (stage 11) for the presence or absence of lineage tracer. We find that the Retzius, anteromedial, and posteromedial 5-HT neurons are derived from the ns blast cell, while the ventrolateral and dorsolateral 5-HT neurons are derived from the nf blast cell. The unpaired pm 5-HT neuron arises as one of a bilateral pair of neurons, of which one later dies. Whether the left or right pm neuron survives in any given ganglion is the consequence of some form of competitive interaction between cells derived from the left and right n primary blast cells, possibly between the left and right pm neurons themselves. We find that, of the dopamine neurons, the LD1 neuron is derived from the o blast cell, the LD2 neurons from the p blast cell, and the MD neuron from one of the 2 kinds of q blast cells. These results show that the 5-HT and dopamine neurons arise from 5 different primary blast cells in a highly determinate manner, and they support the view that cells of a similar phenotype need not be closely related in the developmental cell lineage tree.