Light-induced changes in the structure of pigmented granules in aplysia neurons.
Pigmented granules in Aplysia neurons prepared in the dark contain material that appears to be composed of 50-angstrom globules and a precipitate, probably a calcium salt. On illumination the globules rearrange into paracrystalline arrays and membrane-like lamellae. The morphologic transformation may be related to calcium release from the granules, and the released calcium may mediate the light-evoked hyperpolarization described by others.
D000818:Animals; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008027:Light; D008974:Mollusca; D009474:Neurons / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010786:Photoreceptor Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010858:Pigmentation