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Ciliary and rhabdomeric photoreceptor-cell circuits form a spectral depth gauge in marine zooplankton

Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: Ciliary and rhabdomeric photoreceptor cells represent two main lines of photoreceptor-cell evolution in animals. The two cell types coexist in some animals, however how these cells functionally integrate is unknown. We used connectomics to map synaptic paths between ciliary and rhabdomeric photoreceptors in the planktonic larva of the annelid Platynereis and found that ciliary photoreceptors are presynaptic to the rhabdomeric circuit. The behaviors mediated by the ciliary and rhabdomeric cells also interact hierarchically. The ciliary photoreceptors are UV-sensitive and mediate downward swimming in non-directional UV light, a behavior absent in ciliary-opsin knockout larvae. UV avoidance overrides positive phototaxis mediated by the rhabdomeric eyes such that vertical swimming direction is determined by the ratio of blue/UV light. Since this ratio increases with depth, Platynereis larvae may use it as a depth gauge during vertical migration. Our results revealed a functional integration of ciliary and rhabdomeric photoreceptor cells in a zooplankton larva.
Source: eLife
DOI: 10.7554/elife.36440
Authors: Csaba Verasztó, Martin Gühmann, Huiyong Jia, Vinoth Babu Veedin Rajan, Luis A. Bezares-Calderón, Cristina Piñeiro Lopez, Nadine Randel, Réza Shahidi, Nico K. Michiels, Shozo Yokoyama, Kristin Tessmar-Raible, Gáspár Jékely
Institutions: University of Exeter, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Emory University, University of Vienna, Max Perutz Labs, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Research Campus, University of Tübingen
Language: English
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,500
Funders: Emory University, European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Austrian Science Fund, Universität Wien, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, National Institutes of Health, National Eye Institute, FP7 Ideas: European Research Council
Awards: G3207356259, G3590005214, G3733502964, G393177772, G413889668, Molecular neurobiology of a moonlight entrained circalunar clock, G5702163051, Analyses of inner brain Opsins in the vertebrate CNS, Adaptive Evolution of Color Vision
OpenAlex ID: W2791938693
FWCI: 2.249
Cites: 57
Cited by: 81
Related to: 10