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1. The organization of motor units in the single‐fibre‐thick transversus abdominis muscle of the garter snake has been studied. This small segmental muscle (60‐100 fibres) contains three distinct fibre types (faster twitch, F; slower twitch, S; and tonic, T) which are predominantly arranged in the repeating pattern F, T, S, T, F, T, etc. 2. Motor‐unit maps were obtained by activating an individual motor axon and identifying all of the muscle fibres innervated by that axon, using either the activity‐induced uptake of extracellular marker molecules to label presynaptic terminals of the stimulated axon, or systematic intracellular recording to identify muscle fibres activated by the axon. 3. Each muscle contained three types of motor units (F, T and S) that corresponded to the three types of fibres. All of the muscle fibres in a motor unit were of the same type. Each segmental muscle contained approximately the same number of motor units: one to two faster twitch, three to four slower twitch, and three tonic. 4. Each motor unit was dispersed widely throughout the muscle. Fibres within a motor unit were neither clustered nor anticlustered. This suggests that despite the fact that axons are constrained to innervate fibres of the appropriate type, the distribution of each motor unit does not generate the alternating pattern of fibre types. 5. In several experiments, all of the twitch motor units in one segmental component of the muscle were mapped. The projection of any one axon appeared random not only with respect to the muscle's fibre type pattern, but also with respect to the innervation supplied by other axons. 6. Twitch motor units were arranged according to a hierarchy of sizes. In each muscle examined, the largest motor unit was faster twitch; a single faster twitch motor axon usually innervated all of the faster twitch fibres in the muscle (fourteen to twenty‐four fibres). This was followed by three to four slower twitch motor units which varied in size from eight to ten fibres to very small motor units containing only four to five fibres. 7. Each tonic motor axon innervated an average of ninety‐three end‐plates per segmental muscle. The relatively large size of tonic motor units compared to twitch motor units is related to the ability of tonic muscle fibres to retain polyneuronal innervation into adulthood, both by providing five to seven end‐plate sites per fibre, and by allowing terminal boutons from different tonic motor axons to co‐innervate the same end‐plate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

1. The innervation of neurones in the submandibular ganglion of neonatal and adult rats has been studied with intracellular recording, and light and electron microscopy. 2. Intracellular recordings from neurones in isolated ganglia from adult animals showed that about 75% of the ganglion cells are innervated by a single preganglionic fibre. 3. However multiple steps in the post‐synaptic potential (about five on average) were elicited in ganglion cells from neonatal animals by graded stimulation of the preganglionic nerve. The same result was obtained when the preganglionic fibres were stimulated at their emergence from the brainstem, indicating that neonatal neurones are innervated by several different preganglionic nerve cells. 4. The number of preganglionic fibres innervating individual ganglion cells gradually decreased during the first few weeks of life, and by about 5 weeks each ganglion cell was generally contacted by a single preganglionic axon. 5. Synapses were made on short protuberances in the immediate vicinity of the neuronal cell bodies in both neonatal and adult ganglia as shown by staining presynaptic boutons with the zinc‐iodide osmium method, injection of horseradish peroxidase into ganglion cells, and electron microscopical examination. 6. Electron microscopical counts of synaptic profiles per ganglion cell perimeter showed that the number of synaptic contacts made on ganglion cells actually increased during the first few post‐natal weeks, when the number of axons innervating each neurone was decreasing. 7. These results show that in the rat submandibular ganglion there is a reorganization of neuronal connexions during the first few weeks of life which results in a transition from multiple to generally single innervation of ganglion cells.

We have investigated the organization of the guinea‐pig thoracic chain by studying the innervation of the stellate and fifth thoracic sympathetic ganglia with intracellular recording. 1. These ganglia receive preganglionic innervation from different but overlapping sets of spinal cord segments: the stellate ganglion is innervated by preganglionic axons from spinal segments more rostral than those supplying the fifth thoracic ganglion, but somewhat more caudal than those innervating the superior cervical ganglion. 2. Individual thoracic ganglion cells are innervated by only some of the spinal segments that supply each ganglion as a whole. In general, the subset of spinal segments innervating a ganglion cell is contiguous; one of these segments provides the strongest innervation, with progressively weaker innervation arising from spinal levels adjacent to the dominant one. This selective pattern of innervation is similar to that in the superior cervical ganglion (Njå & Purves, 1977 a). 3. Preganglionic axons frequently innervate neurones in more than one ganglion. 4. Although neurones innervated by the same spinal cord segments are found in both the stellate and the fifth thoracic ganglion, as well as in the superior cervical, the number of ganglion cells receiving innervation from particular spinal segments is different in each ganglion. Moreover, neurones dominated by the same segment but located in different ganglia receive somewhat different average innervation from adjacent segments as a function of the ganglion in which they reside. 5. These results indicate that neurones in the thoracic chain ganglia, as those in the superior cervical ganglion, are selectively innervated by particular spinal cord segments. We suggest that the different average innervation of sympathetic ganglia reflects at least two related factors: the selective qualities of their constituent neurones, and the availability of different preganglionic axons to each ganglion.

The superior cervical ganglion of adult and neonated hamsters has been studied with intracellular recording. 1. Neurones in adult hamster ganglia are innervated by an average of 6‐7 preganglionic axons. During the first week of post‐natal life, however, these cells are innervated by at least eleven to twelve axons. Ganglion cells in animals 2‐3 weeks old are innervated to an intermediate degree, indicating that these neurones lose a substantial portion of their initial synaptic contacts during the first weeks after birth. 2. The over‐all innervation of the superior cervical ganglion in adult hamsters arises from thoracic segments T1‐T5; no additional segments contribute significantly to the innervation of neonatal ganglia. 3. The average number of segments innervating each adult ganglion cell is 2 . 8 compared to 3 . 7 segments innervating neonatal neurones. Throughout post‐natal development the innervation of individual neurones arises from a contiguous subset of the spinal segments that innervate the ganglion as a whole. 4. We conclude that the elimination of redundant innervatin in early life is not limited to those nerve and muscle cells contacted by a sigle axon in maturity, but also occurs in sympathetic ganglia where adult neurones remain multiply innervated. Moreover, the loss of some synaptic contacts during development refines the selective innervation of individual neurones.

1. Simultaneous intracellular recordings were made from pairs of submandibular ganglion cells to examine why each of these neurons is generally innervated by a single preganglionic axon. 2. Impalements made within isolated clusters of two to fifty cells showed that a preganglionic axon typically innervates several neurons within a group. 3. The neurones innervated by a particular axon tended to be intermingled with other neurons; some neurons were innervated by an axon that was not shared by any of their immediate neighbours. 4. These results indicate a mechanism that causes a preganglionic axon to innervate exclusively many of the neurones it contacts, presumably by successful competition with nearby axons that initially innervate the same cells and continue to provide innervation to neighbouring neurones. 5. Re‐innervation of adult ganglion cells shows that this mechanism persists or can be reactivated in maturity.

Preganglionic axons arising from different levels of the mammalian spinal cord make preferential connexions with different classes of superior cervical ganglion cells (Langley, 1892, 1900; Njå & Purves, 1977a). For example, preganglionic axons from the first thoracic segment (T1) make relatively strong connexions with ganglion cells activating end‐organs of the eye; conversely, axons arising from T4 selectively innervate ganglion cells projecting to the ear. In the present work we have asked whether this selectivity reflects the function of the pre‐ and post‐synaptic cells, and aspect of their respective positions, or some other criterion. 1. End‐organs with different functions at the same locus (the eye) respond to stimulation of the same ventral roots; end‐organs of a single modality (hairs or blood vessels) at different positions, however, tend to be activated by different spinal segments. Thus the segmental innervation of ganglion cells is correlated with the position rather than the function of post‐ganglionic targets. 2. The role of target position in ganglion cell innervation was examined directly by recording from neurones sending axons to different destinations. Superior cervical ganglion cells running dorso‐medially in a spinal nerve receive, on average, innervation from more caudal segments than cells projecting ventro‐laterally. 3. These selective connexions do not depend on intraganglionic cell position: neurones located at different points along the major axes of the superior cervical ganglion receive, on average, the same segmental innervation. In accord with this observation, retrogradely labelled neurones innervating a particular target such as the eye or ear are widely and randomly distributed within a large portion of the ganglion. Thus the importance of post‐ganglionic target position in ganglion cell innervation is not simply a reflexion of ganglionic topography. 4. We conclude that one purpose of the selective connexions in the superior cervical ganglion is to bring together preganglionic axons arising from different levels of the spinal cord and ganglion cells whose axons innervate particular regions of the superior cervical territory.

The retinotoxic drug 1,5-di-(p-aminophenoxy)pentane inhibits the accumulation of all 11-cis-retinoids in the eye and can deplete preformed stores of them. It is shown here that these effects are not specific to 1,5-di-(p-aminophenoxy)pentane but are shared generally by primary aromatic amines containing a hydrophobic tail. Furthermore, certain clinically used drugs, such as the anti-inflammatory drug phenacetin, can be metabolized to produce these retinotoxic amines. It is likely that hydrophobic aromatic amines will in general be retinotoxic, and drugs based on these structures need to be reassessed in this light. It is proposed here that these amines function by catalyzing the isomerization of 11-cis-retinal thermodynamically downhill to form its all-trans congener. This mechanism accounts for the lack of structural specificity observed with these compounds and is supported by experimental evidence presented here. Schiff bases formed between 11-cis-retinal and a relevant aromatic amine in phosphatidylcholine-based liposomes lead to the formation of the all-trans isomer, at rates approximately equal to 15 times faster than the rate of 11-cis-retinal isomerization by itself in these liposomes and 10(2)-10(3) times faster than the rate of isomerization of this molecule in n-heptane. The rates of the amine-catalyzed isomerization are fast enough to account for their in vivo effect.