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Restriction mapping of the two proopiomelanocortin (POMC) genes of the South African clawed toad Xenopus laevis revealed that POMC gene A is much larger than POMC gene B. Here we report that this size difference is mainly due to the presence of four vitellogenin (Vi)-transposon-like elements in POMC gene A, while Vi elements are absent from POMC gene B. Alignment of these elements with other Vi elements revealed a consensus sequence of 463 bp, which is bounded by a 16 bp inverted repeat and flanked by a 3 bp direct repeat. Since the amounts of mRNA produced by both POMC genes in the pars intermedia of the Xenopus pituitary are similar, the presence of the Vi-transposon-like elements in POMC gene A apparently has no effect on POMC gene expression at transcriptional or post-transcriptional levels.

7B2 is a highly conserved protein present in many secretory cells. Using in situ hybridization techniques and immunocytochemistry, parameters concerning the biosynthesis and storage of the 7B2 protein were studied in the pituitary gland and median eminence of the clawed toad Xenopus laevis, in relation to the physiological process of background adaptation. 7B2-like immunoreactivity was present in the median eminence, in the neural and anterior pituitary lobes and, particularly, in the melanotrope cells of the intermediate pituitary lobe. In these cells, it coexisted with immunoreactivity to proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha MSH). The melanotropes of black-adapted animals had abundant 7B2-mRNA and POMC-mRNA; melanotropes of white-adapted toads had only low levels of these mRNAs. The presence of 7B2 in nerve terminals and endocrine cells supports the idea that the protein has a general function in the cellular secretory process. In X. laevis, 7B2 appears to be particularly associated with POMC and alpha MSH and, therefore, may play a role in the regulation of background adaptation.

Several environmental factors influence the growth of the basommatophoran freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis. Growth is hormonally controlled by 4 cerebral clusters of ca 50-75 peptidergic, neuroendocrine Light Green Cells (LGC). The present light, transmission, and scanning electron microscopic study shows that the LGC are synaptically contacted by a tentacle sensory system (TSS). The TSS consists of 2 types of primary sensory neurone, viz. ca 150 S1-cells and ca 50-100 S2-cells. A S1-cell has a non-ciliated dendrite and an axon branch that synaptically contacts the soma of a S2-cell. A S2-cell has a branching, ciliated dendrite. Probably, S1- and S2-cells have different sensory modalities and can integrate sensory information by intersensory interaction. The S2-axons run through the tentacular nerves, the cerebral ganglia, and the intercerebral commissure. In each ganglion S2-axons branch and form synaptic contacts on the axons and somata of the LGC and on glial cells that surround the LGC. In an LGC-cluster, 1-3 LGC-somata are particularly strongly innervated. Probably, the TSS is involved in the environmental control of growth in L. stagnalis.