Postembryonic development of rectifying electrical synapses in crayfish: physiology

Summary

In a previous paper we showed that the ultrastructure of the giant fibre to motor giant synapse of crayfish changes in the first few weeks after hatching from having predominantly the appearance of a chemical synapse to having the appearance of an electrical synapse. This is parallelled by a behavioural change from non-giant fibre-mediated to giant fibre-mediated tailflips. In this paper we describe the physiology of the giant fibre to motor giant synapse over this period. We find the following: (1) The giant fibre to motor giant synapse usually transmits spikes 1∶1 from the day of hatching. (2) The synapse operates by electrical transmission from the day of hatching, when no connexons are apparent at the ultrastructural level. (3) The synapse has no detectable chemical component, even at an age when the predominant type of junctional apposition has the ultrastructural appearance of a chemical synapse. (4) Inhibitory chemical synapses occur onto the motor giant at the day of hatching, and these show similar physiological characteristics to those which occur onto the motor giant in adults. (5) In some preparations, the giant fibre to motor giant electrical synapse shows rectification similar to that in the adult, but in most cases both depolarizing and hyperpolarizing current injected into the medial giant spreads to the motor giant. (6) Current spread from the medial giant to the motor giant is increased by hyperpolarizing the motor giant neuron, even when medial giant to motor giant transmission is apparently non-rectifying. (7) Both the giant fibre and the motor giant have resting potentials of about −90 mV. There is no standing difference in resting potential as there is in the adult. This may explain the apparent lack of medial giant to motor giant rectification observed in most preparations.