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Morphological and electrophysiological specializations of photoreceptors in the love spot of hover fly Volucella pellucens

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2021

Irina I. Ignatova ,
Ilkka Miinalainen  and
Roman V. Frolov Open the ORCID record for Roman V. Frolov [Opens in a new window]
Irina I. Ignatova
Affiliation:
Nano and Molecular Systems Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Ilkka Miinalainen
Affiliation:
Biocenter Tissue Imaging Center, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Roman V. Frolov*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Comparative Sensory Physiology, Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia
*
*Corresponding author: Roman V. Frolov, email: rvfrolov@gmail.com
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Abstract

Studies of functional variability in the compound eyes of flies reveal superior temporal resolution of photoreceptors from the frontal areas that mediate binocular vision, and in males mate recognition and pursuit. However, the mechanisms underlying differences in performance are not known. Here, we investigated properties of hover fly Volucella pellucens photoreceptors from two regions of the retina, the frontal-dorsal “love spot” and the lateral one. Morphologically, the microvilli of the frontal-dorsal photoreceptors were relatively few in number per rhabdomere cross-section, short and narrow. In electrophysiological experiments involving stimulation with prolonged white-noise and natural time intensity series, frontal-dorsal photoreceptors demonstrated comparatively high corner frequencies and information rates. Investigation of possible mechanisms responsible for their superior performance revealed significant differences in the properties of quantum bumps, and, unexpectedly, relatively high absolute sensitivity of the frontal-dorsal photoreceptors. Analysis of light adaptation indicated that photoreceptors from two regions adapt similarly but because frontal-dorsal photoreceptors were depolarized much stronger by the same stimuli than the lateral photoreceptors, they reached a deeper state of adaptation associated with higher corner frequencies of light response. Recordings from the photoreceptor axons were characterized by spike-like events that can significantly expand the frequency response range. Seamless integration of spikes into the graded voltage responses was enabled by light adaptation mechanisms that accelerate kinetics and decrease duration of depolarizing light response transients.

Keywords

Volucella pellucensphotoreceptorquantum bumpssignal processingacute zonelight adaptation
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 38 , 2021 , E015
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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