Figure 1

Hatchling Xenopus tadpole, nervous system and neurons. (a) Photograph of tadpole at stage 37/38. (b) The main parts of the CNS with arrowhead at hindbrain/spinal cord border. (c) Transverse section of the spinal cord with the left side stained to show glycine immunoreactive cell bodies (arrows) and axons (in the marginal zone). Diagrammatic right side shows the main regions: neural canal (c) bounded by ventral floor plate (f) and ependymal cell layer (e); lateral marginal zone of axons (mauve), layer of differentiated neuron cell bodies arranged in longitudinal columns (coloured circles) lying inside the marginal zone except in dorso-lateral (dl) and dorsal positions. (d) Diagrammatic view of the spinal cord seen from the left side, showing characteristic position and features of seven different neuron types. Each has a soma (solid ellipse), dendrites (thick lines) and axon(s) (thin lines). Commissural axons projecting on the opposite right side are dashed. See the text for details.