Abstract
The grasshopper ERG displays a rapid recovery of responsivity following the onset of a background light. Although observed earlier in skate and frog, this phenomenon has not previously been seen in an invertebrate. Furthermore, a period of hyperresponsivity exists in early dark adaptation and resembles that found in skate and frog. Thus, recovery in the light and hyperresponsivity in the dark seem to be corollaries of each other. Finally, spectral sensitivity of the ERG is determined and two peaks are found: one at 510 nm and the other at 360 nm. The former appears to be a rhodopsin-mediated sensitivity but the latter does not and they are not clearly separated by chromatic adaptation.
References
Chappel RL, DeVoe RD (1975) Action spectra and chromatic mechanisms of cells in the median ocelli of dragonflies. J Gen Physiol 65:399
Dartnall HJA (1953) The interpretation of spectral sensitivity curves. Br Med Bull 9:24–30
DeVoe RD (1972) Dual sensitivities of cells in wolf spider eyes at ultraviolet and visible wavelengths of light. J Gen Physiol 59:247–269
Dowling JE, Ripps H (1972) Adaptation in skate photoreceptors. J Gen Physiol 60:698–719
HemilÄ S (1977) Background adaptation in the rods of the frog's retina. J Physiol 265:721–719
Kirschfeld K (1979) The function of photostable pigments in fly photoreceptors. Biophys Struct Mech 5:117–128
Kirschfeld K, Franceschini N, Minke B (1977) Evidence for a sensitizing pigment in fly photoreceptors. Nature 269:386–390
Minke B, Kirschfeld K (1979) The contribution of a sensitizing pigment to the photosensitivity spectra of fly rhodopsin and metarhodopsin. J Gen Physiol 73:517–540
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bruckler, R.M., Williams, T.P. Adaptation properties of the ERG in the grasshopper, Romalea microptera . Biophys. Struct. Mechanism 7, 205–208 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00539180
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00539180