The origins of descending spinal projections in lepidosirenid lungfishes

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Abstract
The origins of descending spinal projections in the lepidosirenid lungfishes were identified by retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) introduced into the rostral spinal cords of juvenile African (Protopterus annectans and Protopterus amphibians) and South American (Lepidosiren paradoxa) lungfishes. Standard HRP histochemistry revealed retrogradely labeled neurons in the nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus, midbrain tegmentum, red nucleus, optic tectum, mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus, granule cell layer of the cerebellum, superior, middle, and inferior medullary reticular nuclei, magnocellular and descending octaval nuclei, region of the descending trigeminal tract, solitary complex, and the margins of the spinal gray matter anterior to the spinal HRP implant. A small number of retrogradely labeled neurons were also present in the ventral thalamus of Protopterus. A descending spinal projection from the forebrain was not evident in either genus of lepidosirenid lungfishes. The presence of projections to the spinal cord from the diencephalon, medial reticular formation of the midbrain and medulla, octaval (vestibular) nuclei, solitary complex, and probable nucleus of the descendin trigeminal tract in lungfishes and their overall similarity to comparable projections in other vertebrates suggest that these pathways are among those representative of the primitive pattern of descending spinal projections in vertebrates.