Olfactory Projection Neurons From the Moth Antennal Lobe Lateral Cluster Exhibit Diverse Morphological and Neurophysiological Characteristics

Olfactory projection neurons convey information from the insect antennal lobe (AL) to higher centers in the brain. Many studies on moths have reported excitatory projection neurons with cell bodies in the medial cell cluster ( mc PNs) that predominantly send an axon from the AL to calyces of the mushroom body (CA) via the medial antennal lobe tract (mALT) and then to the lateral horn (LH) of the protocerebrum. These neurons tend to have dendritic arbors restricted to a single glomerulus (i.e. they are uniglomerular). In this study, we report on the physiological and morphological properties of a group of pheromone-responsive olfactory projection neurons with cell bodies in the moth AL lateral cell cluster ( lc PNs) of two heliothine moth species. While mc PNs typically exhibit a narrow odor tuning range related to the restriction of their dendritic arbors within a single glomerulus, lc PNs exhibited an array of morphological and physiological configurations. Pheromone-responsive lc PNs varied in their associations with glomeruli (uniglomerular and multiglomerular), dendritic arborization structure and connections to higher brain centers with projections primarily through the lateral antennal lobe tract and to a lesser extent the mediolateral antennal lobe tract to a variety of protocerebral targets including ventrolateral and superior neuropils as well as LH. Physiological characterization of lc PNs also revealed a diversity of response profiles including those either enhanced by or reliant upon presentation of a pheromone blend. These responses manifested themselves as higher maximum firing rates and/or improved temporal resolution of pulsatile stimuli. lc PNs therefore participate in conveying a variety of olfactory information relating to qualitative and temporal facets of the pheromone stimulus to a more expansive number of protocerebral targets than their mc PN counterparts. The role of lc PNs in the overall scheme of olfactory processing is discussed.