Fig. 2. Colocalisation of Lucifer-Yellow-fluorescence and
anti-GABA-immunofluorescence in a nonspiking local interneuron in the
metathoracic ganglion, demonstrated by confocal microscopy (all images are
from whole mounts of ganglia, viewed ventrally). (A) A single cell body
(arrow) in the anterior lateral region of the ganglion shows intense
fluorescence for Lucifer Yellow (in green pseudocolour in this and following
figures; slight background is due to tissue autofluorescence). (B) The same
cell body (arrow) shows intense fluorescence for Cy3 in the same optical
section, indicating binding of the GABA antibody (Cy3/GABA in red
pseudocolour). A number of other small cell bodies are also
GABA-immunopositive. A and B each show a composite of two confocal planes
separated by 3.1 µm. (C) A merging of the two images in A and B results in
a single yellow cell body, indicating colocalisation of the two fluorophores
in the interneuron. The surrounding large cell bodies belong to glutamatergic
motor neurons (five are indicated with asterisks) that showed no
immunoreactivity with the GABA antibody. (D) The morphology of the neuron as
revealed by the Lucifer Yellow dye (branches reconstructed from 29 confocal
planes, each separated by 5.4 µm; cell body from a single confocal plane 56
µm more ventral than the ventralmost plane used in the reconstruction of
the branches). A single primary neurite (arrow) emerges from the cell body to
give rise to a profusion of fine branches in the neuropil. The ganglion is
viewed ventrally with anterior to the top. Scale bars, 100 µm.