ASK is a set of two ciliated neurons that are part of the amphid sensilla. The endings are in the amphid channel, which is open to the outside (figure 1). Cell bodies are situated in the lateral ganglia and send processes into the ventral cord via the amphid commissures. These processes run anteriorly near the lateral extremities of the ventral cord and then project into the nerve ring, where they run near the middle or the neuropile. The processes meet and terminate at the dorsal mid-line with a gap junction between them (b). Some of the vesicles in the synaptic terminals of ASK are large and darkly staining (a). The predominant synaptic output is to AIA (a, b). Some of the AIA synapses also include AIM (c) and AIB (d) as possible partners. There is some synaptic input from ASJ (*d), PVQ and AIM. ASK makes gap junctions with PVQ (a) and RMG. Magnifications: (a, c, d) x 25500, (b) x 12750.
Click pictures for higher resolution images
