<p> The neurotransmitters gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) and nitric oxide (NO) play a role in maintaining the larval state in the eastern mud snail, <i>Nassarius obsoletus</i>, but how GABAergic and nitrergic neurons are organized in the neural circuit that controls metamorphosis is unknown. Because of previous work by other members of my laboratory, I hypothesized that GABAergic neurons would be upstream from the nitrergic ones. Larval <i> N. obsoletus</i> were exposed to various combinations of GABAergic and nitrergic compounds in bath application and the resulting numbers of metamorphosed individuals were counted after 24 and 48 hours.. I performed multiple sets of experiments and while some indicated that GABAergic neurons were upstream from nitrergic ones the data as a whole did not reveal a clear organizational scheme to this pathway, so I suggest instead that GABA and NO may function in separate pathways to influence the onset of metamorphosis.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:1598925 |
| Date | 09 October 2015 |
| Creators | Welch, Matthew |
| Publisher | The University of North Carolina at Greensboro |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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