A new opsin receptor is light-sensitive and expressed in a unique type of photoreceptor in a flatworm that encloses over 400 sensory cilia within its cell membrane.
The recently characterized opsin group of xenopsins is likely a major player in animal eye evolution and may have been present in an ancient, highly plastic eye photoreceptor cell type.
Despite evidence of retinal stretching with eye growth, cone photoreceptor sampling density in the foveal center of humans actually increases with eye length.
A quantitative analysis of the connectivity between photoreceptors and bipolar cells in the mouse retina based on electron microscopy data yields exceptions from established rules of outer retinal connectivity.
A novel B12 containing photoreceptor is synthesized as two different isoforms that interact with the same transcription factor, with one isoform directing activation and the other promoting repression of photosystem synthesis.
Binding site affinity and transcription factor levels are finely tuned in nature to regulate stochastic expression, setting the ratio of alternative photoreceptor fates and determining color preference.
Birds that see ultraviolet light tune the sensitivity of their short-wavelength photoreceptors with colored filters to maximize the number of colors they can see.
The eye produces a protein that inhibits the growth of blood vessels in the deep retina, which includes the photoreceptor layer, and disruption of this process can lead to blindness.
