DEVELOPMENTAL STUDIES ON DIFFERENTIATION IN FISH OPTIC TECTUM

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses two most important events for the accretion of function in vertebrate nervous system, that is, synaptogenesis and myelination with quantitative ultrastructural analysis of differentiating nervous tissue. Synaptogenesis in the optic tectum of trout mainly takes place during the larval period because the number of synapses increases dramatically and the number of synaptic vesicles per unit area is significantly augmenting. Concomitantly, the activity of arylsulphatase A is strongly enhanced and the lipid composition changes in favor to cholesterol and galactolipids, which is reflected in the Ch:PL:GL ratio. Some important relationships that exist between the structural and biochemical differentiation occurring during brain development can be demonstrated.