Effect of serotonin and calcium on the supercontractile muscles of the adult blowfly crop

Bioassays and electrophysiological recordings were conducted to determine the role of serotonin and calcium on the supercontractile pump muscles of the diverticulated crop of adult blowflies. Using in situ crop preparations, serotonin was found to significantly increase the rates of contractions of a specific pump in the crop wall, pump P4. The addition of the serotonin antagonist, mianserin, or calcium free saline, both significantly reduced the contraction rates of this pump. Recordings, using suction electrodes from pump P4, confirm the in situ bioassay data and show that serotonin promotes muscle activity in empty crops in which no pump activity is normally observed. Moreover, our data indicate the crucial role of extracellular calcium ions in crop pump contractile activity. These results provide new information on how the crop of adult dipterans is modulated and suggest that serotonin, possibly supplied by neurons in the thoracico-abdominal neural plexus, may be involved in modulating the pumping of crop contents into the midgut for digestion or triggering antiperistalsis from the foregut in the process known as regurgitation or ‘bubbling’.

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► The pumps of the dipteran crop are involved in taking food into the crop and emptying it.
► We provide both behavioral and electrophysiological support for the effect of serotonin on pump 4 of the crop.
► The importance of calcium for pump 4 contractions was demonstrated using behavioral and electrophysiological analysis.
► We suggest that the source of serotonin may be the adult nerve plexus of the thoracico-abdominal ganglion.