AMPHIDS IN STRONGYLOIDES-STERCORALIS AND OTHER PARASITIC NEMATODES

In this review, Francis Ashton and Gerhard Schad examine the ultrastru cture of the amphids of several animal parasitic nematodes. These stru ctures are the main chemosensory organs of these worms and probably pl ay an important role in host-finding behavior and the control of devel opment. Reconstructions made from serial micrographs of the neurons in the amphids of the threadworm Strongyloides stercoralis are shown. Th ese stereo images permit three-dimensional visualization of these comp lex sense organs. The association between each amphidial neuron and it s cell body has not been made previously for a parasitic nematode; how ever, this has been done for the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis e legans, which served as a model for these studies. Recognition of the cell bodies will provide a point of departure for laser microbeam abla tion studies to determine individual neuronal function.