Expression of neuron‐specific markers by the vomeronasal neuroepithelium in six species of primates

Vomeronasal organ (VNO) morphology varies markedly across primate taxa. Old World monkeys display no postnatal VNO. Humans and at least some apes retain a vestigial VNO during postnatal life, whereas the strepsirrhines and New World Monkeys present a morphologically well‐defined VNO that, in many species, is presumed to function as an olfactory organ. Available microanatomical and behavioral studies suggest that VNO function in these species does not precisely duplicate that described in other mammalian taxa. The questions of which species retain a functional VNO and what functions they serve require inquiry along diverse lines but, to be functional, the vomeronasal epithelium must be neuronal and olfactory. We used immunohistochemistry to establish these criteria in six primate species. We compared the expression of two neuronal markers, neuron‐specific β‐tubulin (BT) and protein gene product 9.5, and olfactory marker protein (OMP), a marker of mature olfactory sensory neurons, in paraffin‐embedded VNO sections from two strepsirrhine and four haplorhine species, all of which retain morphologically well‐defined VNOs during postnatal life. The infant Eulemur mongoz , adult Otolemur crassicaudatus , neonatal Leontopithicus rosalia , and adult Callithrix jacchus express all three proteins in their well‐defined vomeronasal neuroepithelia. The infant Tarsius syrichta showed some BT and OMP immunoreactivity. We establish that two strepsirrhine species and at least some New World haplorhines have mature sensory neurons in the VNO. In contrast, at all ages examined, Saguinus geoffroyi VNO expresses these markers in only a few cells. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.