Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of General Physiology logoLink to The Journal of General Physiology
. 1970 Sep 1;56(3):392–406. doi: 10.1085/jgp.56.3.392

Membrane Conductances and Spectral Sensitivities of Pecten Photoreceptors

John S McReynolds 1, A L F Gorman 1
PMCID: PMC2225961  PMID: 5476389

Abstract

The electrical and spectral properties of depolarizing (proximal) and hyperpolarizing (distal) photoreceptors in the eye of the scallop, Pecten irradians, were examined. Both depolarizing and hyperpolarizing responses are associated with an increase in membrane conductance; in addition, the depolarizing response is characterized by a secondary decrease in conductance at light intensities which inactivate the response. Both responses can be reversed in polarity by applied current across the cell membrane. The depolarizing response has a reversal potential of approximately +10 mv, whereas the estimated reversal potential for the hyperpolarizing response is near -70 mv. The two responses have the same spectral sensitivity function, which agrees with a Dartnall nomogram for a rhodospin with a λmax at 500 nm. It is suggested that the photochemical reactions produce different end products which give responses of opposite polarity in proximal and distal cells, or alternatively, that the reactions of the respective cell membranes to the same end product are different.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (785.0 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BENOLKEN R. M. Reversal of photoreceptor polarity recorded during the graded receptor potential response to light in the eye of Limulus. Biophys J. 1961 Sep;1:551–564. doi: 10.1016/s0006-3495(61)86908-7. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Borsellino A., Fuortes M. G., Smith T. G. Visual responses in Limulus. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1965;30:429–443. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1965.030.01.042. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bortoff A., Norton A. L. An electrical model of the vertebrate photoreceptor cell. Vision Res. 1967 Mar;7(3):253–263. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(67)90089-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brown H. M., Hagiwara S., Koike H., Meech R. M. Membrane properties of a barnacle photoreceptor examined by the voltage clamp technique. J Physiol. 1970 Jun;208(2):385–413. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1970.sp009127. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Brown H. M., Meech R. W., Koike H., Hagiwara S. Current-voltage relations during illumination: photoreceptor membrane of a barnacle. Science. 1969 Oct 10;166(3902):240–243. doi: 10.1126/science.166.3902.240. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. COOMBS J. S., ECCLES J. C., FATT P. The specific ionic conductances and the ionic movements across the motoneuronal membrane that produce the inhibitory post-synaptic potential. J Physiol. 1955 Nov 28;130(2):326–374. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1955.sp005412. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Chiarandini D. J., Gerschenfeld H. M. Ionic mechanism of cholinergic inhibition in molluscan neurons. Science. 1967 Jun 23;156(3782):1595–1596. doi: 10.1126/science.156.3782.1595. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Chiarandini D. J., Stefani E., Gerschenfeld H. M. Ionic mechanisms of cholinergic excitation in molluscan neurons. Science. 1967 Jun 23;156(3782):1597–1599. doi: 10.1126/science.156.3782.1597. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Cronly-Dillon J. R. Spectral Sensitivity of the Scallop Pecten maximus. Science. 1966 Jan 21;151(3708):345–346. doi: 10.1126/science.151.3708.345. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. DARTNALL H. J. A. The interpretation of spectral sensitivity curves. Br Med Bull. 1953;9(1):24–30. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a074302. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. DeVoe R. D. A nonlinear model for transient responses from light-adapted wolf spider eyes. J Gen Physiol. 1967 Sep;50(8):1993–2030. doi: 10.1085/jgp.50.8.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. FATT P., KATZ B. The effect of inhibitory nerve impulses on a crustacean muscle fibre. J Physiol. 1953 Aug;121(2):374–389. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1953.sp004952. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. FUORTES M. G., HODGKIN A. L. CHANGES IN TIME SCALE AND SENSITIVITY IN THE OMMATIDIA OF LIMULUS. J Physiol. 1964 Aug;172:239–263. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1964.sp007415. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hagins W. A. Electrical signs of information flow in photoreceptors. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1965;30:403–418. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1965.030.01.040. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hagins W. A., McGaughy R. E. Membrane origin of the fast photovoltage of squid retina. Science. 1968 Jan 12;159(3811):213–215. doi: 10.1126/science.159.3811.213. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. KENNEDY D. Neural photoreception in a lamellibranch mollusc. J Gen Physiol. 1960 Nov;44:277–299. doi: 10.1085/jgp.44.2.277. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. KIKUCHI R., NAITO K., TANAKA I. Effect of sodium and potassium ions on the electrical activity of single cells in the lateral eye of the horseshoe crab. J Physiol. 1962 May;161:319–343. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1962.sp006889. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Lasansky A., Fuortes M. G. The site of origin of electrical responses in visual cells of the leech, Hirudo medicinalis. J Cell Biol. 1969 Jul;42(1):241–252. doi: 10.1083/jcb.42.1.241. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. McReynolds J. S., Gorman A. L. Photoreceptor potentials of opposite polarity in the eye of the scallop, Pecten irradians. J Gen Physiol. 1970 Sep;56(3):376–391. doi: 10.1085/jgp.56.3.376. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Millecchia R., Mauro A. The ventral photoreceptor cells of Limulus. 3. A voltage-clamp study. J Gen Physiol. 1969 Sep;54(3):331–351. doi: 10.1085/jgp.54.3.331. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Nolte J., Brown J. E. The spectral sensitivities of single cells in the median ocellus of Limulus. J Gen Physiol. 1969 Nov;54(5):636–649. doi: 10.1085/jgp.54.5.636. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Smith T. G., Stell W. K., Brown J. E. Conductance changes associated with receptor potentials in Limulus photoreceptors. Science. 1968 Oct 25;162(3852):454–456. doi: 10.1126/science.162.3852.454. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Toyoda J., Nosaki H., Tomita T. Light-induced resistance changes in single photoreceptors of Necturus and Gekko. Vision Res. 1969 Apr;9(4):453–463. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(69)90134-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. WALD G., BROWN P. K., GIBBONS I. R. The problem of visual excitation. J Opt Soc Am. 1963 Jan;53:20–35. doi: 10.1364/josa.53.000020. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Wald G. Visual excitation and blood clotting. Science. 1965 Nov 19;150(3699):1028–1030. doi: 10.1126/science.150.3699.1028. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of General Physiology are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES