Development of vasotocin pathways in the bullfrog brain.

The brain of adult bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) contains six populations of cells which are immunoreactive for the neurohypophysial peptide arginine vasotocin (AVT). It is unknown when some of these cell populations first appear during development and when the sexual differences in AVT distribution first become apparent. We therefore used immunocytochemistry to examine development of AVT pathways in developing bullfrog tadpoles and in newly metamorphosed froglets of both sexes. AVT-immunoreactive (AVT-ir) cells were already present in the three diencephalic areas (magnocellular preoptic nucleus, suprachiasmatic nucleus and hypothalamus) at stage III (Taylor and Kollros stages), the earliest stage examined. Cell size in the magnocellular nucleus was not bimodally distributed in either tadpoles or froglets. AVT-ir cells in the telencephalic septal nucleus and amygdala did not appear until stage VI. There was no sexual difference in the density of AVT-ir cells or fibers in the amygdala of tadpoles or froglets. Finally, cells in the hindbrain pretrigeminal nucleus appeared much later--after stage XX. Thus, different populations of neurons begin to express AVT at unique times during development. The sexual dimorphism in AVT content observed in the amygdala of adult bullfrogs must appear during juvenile development or at adulthood.