Rod pigment and rod noise in the European toad Bufo bufo

Behavioural experiments and ganglion cell recordings indicate that the visual sensitivity of dark-adapted toads is limited by the occurrence of spontaneous isomerization-like noise events in the rods. The frequency of these “false photons” has previously been studied (with micropipette recording) in...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Vision research (Oxford) 1998-02, Vol.38 (4), p.483-486
Main Authors: Fyhrquist, Nanna, Govardovskii, Victor, Leibrock, Cornelia, Reuter, Tom
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorption spectrum
Animals
Bufo bufo - physiology
Bufo marinus
Dark Adaptation
Dark noise
formula omitted
Microspectrophotometry
Photic Stimulation
Retinal Ganglion Cells - physiology
Retinal Pigments - chemistry
Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells - physiology
Rod photoreceptor
Sensory Thresholds - physiology
Time Factors
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Behavioural experiments and ganglion cell recordings indicate that the visual sensitivity of dark-adapted toads is limited by the occurrence of spontaneous isomerization-like noise events in the rods. The frequency of these “false photons” has previously been studied (with micropipette recording) in the toad species Bufo marinusm, while the behavioural thresholds were determined using Bufo bufo toads. Thus, it was necessary to check that the noise event frequency is roughly the same in these two species. Here we show that it is, in both species, close to 0.02 events per second and rod (at 22°C). Using microspectrophotometry we further show that the absorption spectra of these two rhodopsins are very similar, peaking around 503.3 and 501.8 nm for B. marinus and B. bufo, respectively.
ISSN:0042-6989
1878-5646
DOI:10.1016/S0042-6989(97)00177-6