Spatiotemporal patterns of neurogenesis in the appendicularian Oikopleura dioica

Incorporation of the thymidine analog bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was used to assess cytogenesis in the central nervous system (CNS) of the appendicularian Oikopleura dioica. A series of timed cumulative labelings carried out from 45 minutes (min) to 8 hours (h) after fertilization provided labeling patterns that showed when neurons and support cells residing at specific sites within the 9 h CNS became postmitotic. Throughout the CNS, which includes the cerebral ganglion, caudal ganglion and caudal nerve cord, neurogenesis occurs during an earlier time window than the genesis of support cells. Neurons are first generated at about 45 min to 1 h after fertilization in all 3 CNS regions, starting in the cerebral ganglion. Support cells are generated starting at about 2 h after fertilization. In both the cerebral ganglion and the caudal ganglion, neurons born during different time epochs settle in a specific spatial pattern, following a caudal to rostral gradient in the caudal ganglion and a more complex pattern in the cerebral ganglion. No such regional pattern was seen in the caudal nerve cord, where neurons born during different epochs were evenly distributed along the length of the cord. In the cerebral ganglion a small subpopulation of cells continued to incorporate BrdU from 8 h to at least 15 h and may represent a reserve of stem cells or progenitor cells that generate additional cells seen in the adult. The results show that this simple urochordate exhibits several vertebrate features of CNS cytogenesis, including a different timing of neurogenesis and gliogenesis (support cells being the likely candidates for glial cells in Oikopleura), gradients of neuron position according to birthdate, and a maintenance of neural cell precursors beyond embryonic and larval stages.