Distribution of zebrin II in the gigantocerebellum of the mormyrid fish Gnathonemus petersii compared with other teleosts

Abstract Immunocytochemistry has demonstrated unexpected heterogeneity among cerebellar Purkinje cells. For example, monoclonal antibody Mab anti‐zebrin II reveals parasagittal bands of immunoreactive Purkinje cells in the mammalian cerebellum, but reveals a non‐sagittal cerebellar compartmentation pattern in goldfish and gymnotiform fish. The present paper investigates the cerebellar compartmentation pattern, as reflected in the zebrin II distribution, in two other teleosts, the electric mormyrid fish Gnathonemus petersii with its large and regularly built gigantocerebellum, and the electrosensory osteoglossomorph teleost Xenomystis nigri , by‐using light as well as electron microscopic immunohistochemical techniques. Zebrin II is expressed only in Purkinje cells, where it is present in the cytoplasm of all neuronal compartments, including spines, distal and proximal dendrites, the cell body, and the initial part, as well as terminal boutons of the axon. Other types of cerebellar neurons, including the eurydendroid projection neurons, are zebrin II‐negative. In Gnathonemus , zebrin II‐positive Purkinje cells are present in the large caudolateral part of the valvula, in lobes C 2 , C 3 , and C 4 of the corpus, and in the anterior as well as the posterior part of the caudal cerebellar lobe. Zebrin II‐negative Purkinje cells are present in a continuous region encompassing the rostromedial part of the valvula, the lobus transitorius, lobe C 1 and the ventral part of lobe C 2 , and in a small, lateral zone of the posterior part of the caudal lobe. In Xenomystis , all Purkinje cells, including those in the medial valvula and the posterior part of the caudal lobe, appear to react with mab anti‐zebrin II. This more widespread distribution may be due to the presence of a second antigenic polypeptide in this species. On the basis of the present findings, it is concluded that the mormyrid lobus transitorius, lobe C 1 , and the ventral part of lobe C 2 probably belong to the valvula, while the corpus is restricted to the dorsal part of lobe C 2 , lobe C 3 , and lobe C 4 . The functional significance of zebrin II expression for different subsets of teleostean Purkinje cells remains unclear, since comparisons of different teleosts reveal no general correlation with particular afferent or efferent connections, nor with special morphological features such as a dendritic palisade pattern or different arrangements of the Purkinje cell bodies. A comparison between mammals and teleosts suggests that a distinct parasagittal cerebellar zonation in teleosts is absent, and the major part of the teleostean cerebellum may be considered as a single (midsagittal) cerebellar zone, with about the same width as one mammalian parasagittal zone.