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The topography of cone photoreceptors in the retina of a diurnal rodent, the agouti (Dasyprocta aguti)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2009

FERNANDO ALLAN de FARIAS ROCHA ,
PETER K. AHNELT ,
LEO PEICHL ,
CÉZAR A. SAITO ,
LUIZ CARLOS L. SILVEIRA  and
SILENE MARIA A. DE LIMA
FERNANDO ALLAN de FARIAS ROCHA*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
PETER K. AHNELT
Affiliation:
Institut für Physiologie, Medizinische Universität Wien, Wien, Austria
LEO PEICHL
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Hirnforschung, Deutschordenstr. 46, D-60528, Frankfurt a. M., Germany
CÉZAR A. SAITO
Affiliation:
Departamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
LUIZ CARLOS L. SILVEIRA
Affiliation:
Departamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil Núcleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
SILENE MARIA A. DE LIMA
Affiliation:
Departamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
*
*Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Dr. Fernando Allan de Farias Rocha, Departamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, 66075-900 Belém, Pará, Brazil. E-mail: rochaf@ufpa.br
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Abstract

The presence, density distribution, and mosaic regularity of cone types were studied in the retina of the diurnal agouti, Dasyprocta aguti. Longwave-sensitive (L-) and shortwave-sensitive (S-) cones were detected by antibodies against the respective cone opsins. L- and S-cones were found to represent around 90 and 10% of the cone population, respectively. There was no evidence for L- and S-opsin coexpression in agouti cones. L-cone densities were highest, up to 14,000/mm2, along a horizontal visual streak located about 2–3 mm dorsal to the optic nerve, and the L-cone distribution showed a dorsoventral asymmetry with higher densities in ventral (about 10,000/mm2) than in dorsal (about 4000/mm2) retinal regions. This L-cone topography parallels the agouti’s ganglion cell topography. S-cones had a peak density of 1500–2000/mm2 in the central retinal region but did not form a visual streak. Their distribution also showed a dorsoventral asymmetry with densities around 600/mm2 in dorsal and around 1000/mm2 in ventral retinal regions. The patterning of cone arrays was assessed by the density recovery profile analysis. At all eccentricities evaluated, the S-cone mosaic less efficiently packed than the L-cone mosaic. Rod densities ranged from 47,000/mm2 in peripheral to 64,000/mm2 in central retina, and rod:cone ratios were 4:1–9:1. The comparatively low rod density and high cone proportion appear well adapted to the diurnal lifestyle of the agouti.

Keywords

Cone opsinCone mosaicVisual streakHystricomorph rodentsImmunocytochemistry
Type
Research Articles
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , March 2009 , pp. 167 - 175
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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