
Cellular basis of brain maturation and acquisition of complex behaviors in salamanders
Author(s) -
Alberto Joven,
Heng Wang,
Tiago Novaes Pinheiro,
L. Shahul Hameed,
Laure Belnoue,
András Simon
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.754
H-Index - 325
eISSN - 1477-9129
pISSN - 0950-1991
DOI - 10.1242/dev.160051
Subject(s) - biology , neurogenesis , pleurodeles , notophthalmus viridescens , neuroscience , progenitor cell , progenitor , neural stem cell , salamander , evolutionary biology , amphibian , stem cell , regeneration (biology) , microbiology and biotechnology , zoology , ecology
The overall bauplan of the tetrapod brain is highly conserved, yet significant variations exist among species in terms of brain size, structural composition and cellular diversity. Understanding processes underlying neural and behavioral development in a wide range of species is important both from an evolutionary developmental perspective as well as for the identification of cell sources with post-developmental neurogenic potential. Here we characterize germinal processes in the brain of Notophthalmus viridescens and Pleurodeles waltl during both development and adulthood. Using a combination of cell tracking tools, including clonal analyses in new transgenic salamander lines we examine the origin of neural stem and progenitor cells found in the adult brain, determine regional variability in cell cycle length of progenitor cells, and show spatio-temporally orchestrated neurogenesis. We analyze how maturation of different brain regions and neuronal subpopulations are linked to the acquisition of complex behaviors, and how these behaviors are altered upon chemical ablation of dopamine neurons. Our data analyzed from an evolutionary perspective reveal both common and species-specific processes in tetrapod brain formation and function.