The glossopharyngeal nerve of the axolotl labeled with carbocyanine dye (diI)

Fluorescent carbocyanine dye (diI) was used to label the glossopharyngeal (IX) nerve in the fixed preparation of the Mexican salamander, axolotl. When the cell bodies were viewed with a confocal laser scanning microscope and Nomarski optics, the cytoplasm was brightly fluorescent, but not the cell nucleus. The cell bodies which send peripheral axons in the two branches of the IX nerve were mainly distributed in the rostral part of the combined glossopharyngeal-vagus ganglion, but a few cells were also distributed in the middle and caudal parts. This may indicate a relatively undifferentiated organization of the IX nerve in the ganglion.