Fine structure of degenerating abdominal motor neurons after eclosion in the sphingid moth, Manduca sexta

Ultrastructural aspects of the natural degeneration of a group of six motor neurons in the fourth abdominal ganglion of Manduca sexta are described. These motor neurons innervate intersegmental muscles that degenerate and disappear immediately after adult eclosion. The first detectable changes in the cell bodies appear 12h after eclosion and include disruption of the endoplasmic reticulum and an increase in the size and number of lamellar bodies. At 32h the nuclear membranes rupture, and the membranous and granular cytoorganelles segregate in different parts of the cell. At that stage the surrounding glial cells participate in the digestion of material from the degenerating neurons. From 72h onward the remaining neuronal structures become disrupted, and are finally transformed into a single, large lamellar body (residual body) within the glial profile. The degeneration pattern differs significantly from that of embryonic vertebrate neurons.