Ultrastructural neurobiology of the olfactory mucosa of the brown trout, Salmo trutta.

This paper describes four investigations of the olfactory mucosa of the brown trout: 1) the ultrastructure of the olfactory mucosa as revealed by scanning (SEM), conventional transmission (TEM), and high voltage (HVEM) electron microscopy; 2) light and electron-microscopic investigations of retrograde transport of the tracer macromolecule horseradish peroxidase (HRP) when applied to the cut olfactory nerve; 3) SEM and TEM investigations of the effects of olfactory nerve transection on cell populations within the olfactory epithelium; and 4) ultrastructural investigations of reversible degeneration of olfactory receptors caused by elevated copper concentrations. The trout olfactory epithelium contains five cell types: ciliated epithelial cells, ciliated olfactory receptor cells, microvillar olfactory receptor cells, supporting cells, and basal cells. The ciliated and microvillar olfactory receptor cells and a small number of basal cells are backfilled by HRP when the tracer is applied to the cut olfactory nerve. When the olfactory nerve is cut, both ciliated and microvillar olfactory receptor cells degenerate within 2 days and are morphologically intact again within 8 days. When wild trout are taken from their native stream and placed in tanks with elevated copper concentrations, ciliated and microvillar cells degenerate. Replacement of these trout into their stream of origin is followed by morphologic restoration of both types of olfactory receptor cells. Ciliated and microvillar receptor cells are primary sensory bipolar neurons whose dendrites make contact with the environment; their axons travel directly to the brain. Consequently, substances can be transported directly from the environment into the brain via these "naked neurons." Since fish cannot escape from the water in which they swim, and since that water may occasionally contain brain-toxic substances, the ability to close off--and later reopen--this anatomic gateway to the brain would confer a tremendous selective advantage upon animals that evolved the "brain-sparing" capacity to do so. Consequently, the unique regenerative powers of vertebrate olfactory receptor neurons may have their evolutionary origin in fishes.