Fine structure of the lamprey photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelium (Petromyzon marinus L.)

Dickson, D. Howard; Graves, Debra A.

doi:10.1016/0014-4835(79)90165-9

Cited by 60 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…These findings were later refuted by several authors who identified conelike receptors in the eyes of cyclostomes, i.e. lampreys (Ö hman 1971;Dickson & Graves 1979;Govardovskii & Lychakov 1984;Tonosaki et al 1989;Collin et al 1999;Collin & Trezise 2004), but the characterization and distinction of rods and cones in the early vertebrates is not at all clear and has been the subject of great debate for over 150 years (Crescitelli 1972).…”

Section: Evolution Of Early Photoreceptors (A) Rods or Cones?mentioning

confidence: 97%

The evolution of early vertebrate photoreceptors

Collin

Davies

Hart

et al. 2009

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Meeting the challenge of sampling an ancient aquatic landscape by the early vertebrates was crucial to their survival and would establish a retinal bauplan to be used by all subsequent vertebrate descendents. Image-forming eyes were under tremendous selection pressure and the ability to identify suitable prey and detect potential predators was thought to be one of the major drivers of speciation in the Early Cambrian. Based on the fossil record, we know that hagfishes, lampreys, holocephalans, elasmobranchs and lungfishes occupy critical stages in vertebrate evolution, having remained relatively unchanged over hundreds of millions of years. Now using extant representatives of these 'living fossils', we are able to piece together the evolution of vertebrate photoreception. While photoreception in hagfishes appears to be based on light detection and controlling circadian rhythms, rather than image formation, the photoreceptors of lampreys fall into five distinct classes and represent a critical stage in the dichotomy of rods and cones. At least four types of retinal cones sample the visual environment in lampreys mediating photopic (and potentially colour) vision, a sampling strategy retained by lungfishes, some modern teleosts, reptiles and birds. Trichromacy is retained in cartilaginous fishes (at least in batoids and holocephalans), where it is predicted that true scotopic (dim light) vision evolved in the common ancestor of all living gnathostomes. The capacity to discriminate colour and balance the tradeoff between resolution and sensitivity in the early vertebrates was an important driver of eye evolution, where many of the ocular features evolved were retained as vertebrates progressed on to land.

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Section: Evolution Of Early Photoreceptors (A) Rods or Cones?mentioning

confidence: 97%

The evolution of early vertebrate photoreceptors

Collin

Davies

Hart

et al. 2009

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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show abstract

“…Although behavioural tests of colour discrimination have not confirmed the presence of colour vision in lampreys, microspectrophotometric analyses of each of the photoreceptor types present in a range of species confirm that a large range of wavelengths within the visible (and non-visible or UV) parts of the spectrum are detected and presumably used. The holarctic lampreys L. fluviatilis and P. marinus each possess two morphological types [both considered to be cones by Dickson and Graves, 1979] with max values of 525 and 600 nm [Hárosi and Kleinschmidt, 1993] and 517 and 555 nm [Govardovskii and Lychakov, 1984], respectively ( fig. 3 ).…”

Section: Photoreceptors In Lampreys: Bright-light Detectors For Coloumentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution and Ecology of Retinal Photoreception in Early Vertebrates

Collin¹

2010

Brain Behav Evol

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Visual ecology or the relationship between the visual system of an animal and its environment has proven to be a crucial research field for establishing general concepts of adaptation, specialization and evolution. The visual neuroscientist is indeed confronted with a plethora of different visual characteristics, each seemingly optimised for each species’ ecological niche, but often without a clear understanding of the evolutionary constraints at play. However, before we are able to fully understand the influence(s) of ecology and phylogeny on visual system design in vertebrates, it is first necessary to understand the basic bauplan of key representatives of each taxa. This review examines photoreception in hagfishes, lampreys, cartilaginous fishes and lungfishes with an eye to their ecology using a range of neurobiological methods including anatomy, microspectrophotometry and molecular genetics. These early vertebrates represent critical stages in evolution and surprisingly possess a level of visual complexity that is almost unrivalled in other vertebrates.

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“…In G. australis there are five morphologically distinct photoreceptors (all with cone-like characteristics), each expressing a different photopigment (Davies et al, 2007). The holarctic lampreys L. fluviatilis and P. marinus each possess two morphological types [both considered to be cones by Dickson and Graves (Dickson and Graves, 1979)] with max values of 525·nm and 600·nm, and 517·nm and 555·nm, respectively (Govardovskii and Lychakov, 1984;Harosi and Kleinschmidt, 1993). Only one morphological type (seemingly a hybrid between a rod and a cone) has been described for M. mordax, which is the parasitic homologue of M. praecox, with a max of 514·nm .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%