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Phototransduction in Limulus Ventral Photoreceptors: Roles of Calcium and Inositol Trisphosphate

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Facets of Vision

Abstract

The rhabdomere of invertebrate photoreceptors has long been considered to be the site of visual transduction. Exner wrote in 1891 (p. 96) “This arrangement suggests that the most fundamental visual process — the transduction of light energy into nervous excitation — be it by photochemical or other means takes place, or is at least initiated during the passage of light along the strongly refracting rods.” Modern electrophysiological experiments (Hagins et al. 1962; Lasansky and Fuortes 1969) conclusively demonstrated that the microvillar membrane of the rhabdomere, which contains the visual pigment, is the site where electrical current flows into the cell upon illumination. This photocurrent underlies the receptor potential, which is a depolarization of the receptor cell membrane (Millecchia and Mauro 1969).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA

    Alan Fein & Richard Payne

Authors
  1. Alan Fein
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  2. Richard Payne
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biophysics, Laboratorium voor Algemene Natuurkunde Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Westersingel 34, NL-9718, CM Groningen, The Netherlands

    Doekele Gerben Stavenga

  2. Department of Zoology, Cambridge University, Downing Street, GB-Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, England

    Roger Clayton Hardie

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© 1989 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Fein, A., Payne, R. (1989). Phototransduction in Limulus Ventral Photoreceptors: Roles of Calcium and Inositol Trisphosphate. In: Stavenga, D.G., Hardie, R.C. (eds) Facets of Vision. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74082-4_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74082-4_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-74084-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-74082-4

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