The naris muscles in tiger salamander. I. Potential functions and innervation as revealed by biocytin tracing.

摘要

The naris constrictor muscle, along with naris dilator and naris accessory muscles, controls the opening and closing of the external naris in tiger salamanders. It has been hypothesized that contraction of the naris constrictor muscle also causes the external nasal gland to secrete its contents inside the lateral wall of the external naris opening. This location is just rostral to vomeronasal organ and thus secretion in this region may be important for access of odorous compounds to vomeronasal organ. Little is known about the innervation of the naris muscles. To elucidate the neural control of these muscles, their innervation was examined using retrograde tract tracing with biocytin. Following application of biocytin to the naris constrictor muscle, labeling was observed in a ventral axonal plexus of the palatine nerve and numerous neuronal cell bodies distributed along this peripheral nerve plexus and within the main portion of the palatine ganglion. If the naris accessory and/or dilator muscles were also exposed to the tracer, the lateral-most branch of the palatine nerve and its associated neural cell bodies were labeled. To confirm the functional innervation of the muscles by the palatine nerve, the nerve was cut and the contraction of the muscles was eliminated. These findings demonstrate that the muscles controlling the external naris are under the control of palatine ganglion neurons. We hypothesize that this innervation of the naris constrictor muscle controls both muscle contraction and glandular secretion that may facilitate access of chemosensory substances to the vomeronasal organ.