QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Qiu, X. Articles by Arikawa, K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Qiu, X. Articles by Arikawa, K.

The Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 2787-2793 (2003)
doi: 10.1242/jeb.00493

Polymorphism of red receptors: sensitivity spectra of proximal photoreceptors in the small white butterfly Pieris rapae crucivora

Xudong Qiu and Kentaro Arikawa^*

Graduate School of Integrated Science, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Japan

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: arikawa{at}yokohama-cu.ac.jp)

Accepted 13 May 2003

The compound eye of the small white butterfly Pieris rapae crucivora contains three anatomically distinct types of ommatidia. They differ in pigmentation around the rhabdom, colour of tapetal reflection and violet light-induced autofluorescence, indicating physiological differences between them. We recently reported that the ommatidia are in fact spectrally heterogeneous: in the distal part of the tiered retina they contain different sets of the spectral receptors R1–4. This study examines whether the ommatidia in the proximal retinal tier also show the spectral heterogeneity for the receptors R5–8. We recorded the sensitivity spectra of the proximal photoreceptors, and subsequently injected the dye Alexafluor 568 into proximal photoreceptors, to localize the cell and identify the ommatidial type to which it belonged. We analysed 13 successfully labeled proximal photoreceptors, and found that the sensitivity spectrum of the proximal photoreceptors in types I and III ommatidia peaks at 620 nm, whereas that of type II ommatidia peaks at 640 nm. The difference in the sensitivity spectra can be explained by the anatomical characteristics of each ommatidial type. This is the first demonstration of red receptor polymorphism in insects. The polymorphic red receptor system most probably enhances contrast sensitivity and/or color discrimination in the long wavelength spectral region.

Key words: compound eye, retina, photoreceptor, rhabdom, color vision, butterfly, Pieris rapae crucivora

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. D. Briscoe Reconstructing the ancestral butterfly eye: focus on the opsins J. Exp. Biol., June 1, 2008; 211(11): 1805 - 1813. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Zaccardi, A. Kelber, M. P. Sison-Mangus, and A. D. Briscoe Color discrimination in the red range with only one long-wavelength sensitive opsin J. Exp. Biol., May 15, 2006; 209(10): 1944 - 1955. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Arikawa, M. Wakakuwa, X. Qiu, M. Kurasawa, and D. G. Stavenga Sexual Dimorphism of Short-Wavelength Photoreceptors in the Small White Butterfly, Pieris rapae crucivora J. Neurosci., June 22, 2005; 25(25): 5935 - 5942. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Wakakuwa, D. G. Stavenga, M. Kurasawa, and K. Arikawa A unique visual pigment expressed in green, red and deep-red receptors in the eye of the small white butterfly, Pieris rapae crucivora J. Exp. Biol., July 15, 2004; 207(16): 2803 - 2810. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]