Summary
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1.
The photomechanical changes which occur inLimulus lateral eye during long-term (8 hours or longer) dark-light adaptation were studied via light microscopy.
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2.
The results indicated that, in addition to the migration of protective pigment granules previously observed, morphological changes occur in cone cells, retinular cell rhabdomeral membranes and eccentric cell dendrites during adaptation (Figs. 1, 2 and 3). These changes were confined to the illuminated (or light-deprived) portion of the eye and did not depend on intact neural connections with the brain.
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3.
Eyes excised during daylight hours from animals maintained in darkness appeared partially “light-adapted” suggesting circadian effects (Fig. 4).
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4.
Large vacuole-Iike structures formed in retinular cells during prolonged (24–48 hour) exposure to fluorescent room light and disappeared during a subsequent dark period (Fig. 5).
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5.
It is possible that the changes which occur in the rhabdomeral membranes of retinular cells and the eccentric cell dendrite during light-dark adaptation affect the electrotonic coupling which exists between these cells.
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This investigation was supported in part by grant 5 RO1 EY 00236 from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Public Health Service, Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
Some of these experiments were performed in collaboration with Dr. Robert B. Barlow Jr., and Mr. Ehud Kaplan (Laboratory of Sensory Communications, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.). Dr. Barlow suggested the investigation of circadian changes in ommatidial morphology and he and Mr. Kaplan conducted the third of these series of experiments at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass. They also prepared lateral eyes, excised from freshly collected crabs, for histological examination. The author is particularly grateful for many valuable discussions with Dr. Barlow and Mr. Kaplan and for their suggestions concerning the interpretation of the results.
I am deeply indebted to Dr. Verner Wulff for the many helpful suggestions he has made during the course of these investigations and for his able and willing assistance in the preparation of the manuscript. I thank Dr. Robert Barlow for his constructive criticism of the manuscript.
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Behrens, M.E. Photomechanical changes in the ommatidia of theLimulus lateral eye during light and dark adaptation. J. Comp. Physiol. 89, 45–57 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00696162
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00696162