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A Drosophila mutant defective in extracellular calcium-dependent photoreceptor deactivation and rapid desensitization

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Abstract

CALCIUM is involved in the adaptation of vertebrate photoreceptors to light1,2 and may have a similar role in invertebrate phototransduction3,4. But the molecular mechanisms mediating this stimulus-dependent regulation are not well understood in any G protein-coupled transduction system. We have developed a preparation of isolated Drosophila photoreceptors that has allowed us to carry out an electrophysiological characterization of the light-activated response in these sensory neurons using patch-clamp techniques. We report here that extracellular calcium entering through the light-activated conductance is a key regulator of both the activation and deactivation phases of the phototransduction cascade, and that inaC mutant photoreceptors5 are specifically defective in the calcium-dependent deactivation mechanism. These data suggest that the light-dependent calcium influx inactivates this cascade through a biochemical pathway that requires the inaC gene product, and that this mechanism represents a molecular basis for stimulus-dependent regulation of visual transduction in Drosophila photoreceptors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA

    Rama Ranganathan, Charles F. Stevens & Charles S. Zuker

  2. Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA

    Charles F. Stevens & Charles S. Zuker

  3. Department of Biology and Molecular Biology Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, 92182, USA

    Greg L. Harris

  4. Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA

    Charles F. Stevens

Authors
  1. Rama Ranganathan
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  2. Greg L. Harris
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  3. Charles F. Stevens
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  4. Charles S. Zuker
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Ranganathan, R., Harris, G., Stevens, C. et al. A Drosophila mutant defective in extracellular calcium-dependent photoreceptor deactivation and rapid desensitization. Nature 354, 230–232 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/354230a0

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