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Membrane filtering properties of the bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) photoreceptors across three spectral classes

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Abstract

Filtering properties of the membrane form an integral part of the mechanisms producing the light-induced electrical signal in insect photoreceptors. Insect photoreceptors vary in response speed between different species, but recently it has also been shown that different spectral photoreceptor classes within a species possess diverse response characteristics. However, it has not been quantified what roles phototransduction and membrane properties play in such diversity. Here, we use electrophysiological methods in combination with system analysis to study whether the membrane properties could create the variation of the response speed found in the bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) photoreceptors. We recorded intracellular responses from each photoreceptor class to white noise-modulated current stimuli and defined their input resistance and linear filtering properties. We found that green sensitive cells exhibit smaller input resistance and membrane impedance than other cell classes. Since green sensitive cells are the fastest photoreceptor class in the bumblebee retina, our results suggest that the membrane filtering properties are correlated with the speed of light responses across the spectral classes. In general, our results provide a compelling example of filtering at the sensory cell level where the biophysical properties of the membrane are matched to the performance requirements set by visual ecology.

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Abbreviations

3 dB:

3 Decibels

C m :

Membrane capacitance

DA:

Dark-adapted

∆t :

Response half-width

I–V curve:

Current–voltage relation

LA:

Light-adapted

R m :

Membrane resistance

σ:

Skewness of the log-normal fit of the impulse response

τm :

Membrane time-constant

t p :

Time-to-peak of the log-normal fit of the impulse response

WN:

“White noise”, pseudorandomly modulated time-series that has a constant power spectrum within a defined bandwidth

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, Oulu, 90014, Finland

    Antti Vähäkainu, Mikko Vähäsöyrinki & Matti Weckström

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  1. Antti Vähäkainu
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  2. Mikko Vähäsöyrinki
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  3. Matti Weckström
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Correspondence to Matti Weckström.

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Vähäkainu, A., Vähäsöyrinki, M. & Weckström, M. Membrane filtering properties of the bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) photoreceptors across three spectral classes. J Comp Physiol A 199, 629–639 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-013-0814-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-013-0814-x

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