title: Dependency on light and vitamin A derivatives of the biogenesis of 3-hydroxyretinal and visual pigment in the compound eyes of Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: When the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster, was reared on media deficient in carotenoids and retinoids, the level of 3-hydroxyretinal (the chromophore of fly rhodopsin) in the retina decreased to less than 1% compared with normal flies. The level of 3-hydroxyretinal increased markedly in flies that were given a diet supplemented with retinoids or carotenoids. The retinas of flies fed on all-trans retinoids and maintained in the dark predominantly contained the all-trans form of 3-hydroxyretinal, and showed no increase in the level of either the 11-cis isomer or the visual pigment. Subsequent illumination of the flies converted substantial amounts of all-trans 3-hydroxyretinal to its 11-cis isomer. The action spectrum of the conversion by illumination showed the optimum wavelength to be approximately 420 nm, which is significantly greater than the absorption maximum of free, all-trans 3-hydroxyretinal. Flies that were fed on carotenoids showed a rapid increase of the levels of 11-cis 3-hydroxyretinal and of visual pigment in the absence of light.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Applied Information Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Isono
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanimura
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oda
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsukahara
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D008027:Light; D010777:Photochemistry; D010857:Pigment Epithelium of Eye / Q000378:metabolism*; D012172:Retinaldehyde / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012176:Retinoids / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D012176:Retinoids; D002338:Carotenoids; C049427:3-hydroxyretinal; D012172:Retinaldehyde