Comparison of slow larval and fast adult muscle innervated by the same motor neurone

1. Muscles innervated by an identified set of motor neurones were compared between larval and adult stages. 2. The structure of the larval muscle is typically tonic: long sarcomeres, irregular Z-bands, and 10-12 thin filaments around each thick filament. The structure of the adult muscle is phasic: 3-4 micrometers sarcomeres, regular Z-bands, 6-8 thin filaments around each thick filament, and large mitochondrial volume. 3. The tensions produced by these muscles were correspondingly different. The larval twitch was about 7 times slower and the tetanus/twitch ratio 10 times greater than those of the adult. 4. No structural or physiological differences were observed in the neuromuscular junctions of the two stages. 5. The relatively unchanging functional relationship of a single motor neurone with two different muscle fibre types during two developmental stages is compared with the converse situation in which it has been reported that implantation of a different type of motor nerve into a muscle modifies contractile properties.