Mammalian vision: rods are a bargain.
To maintain resting potentials in darkness, rod and cone photoreceptors incur a significant energy cost. But in brighter light, rods become energetically 'cheaper' than cones, which might explain the evolution of the vertebrate duplex retina.
Warrant
Eric J
EJ
Department of Cell & Organism Biology, Zoology Building, University of Lund, Helgonavägen 3, S-22362 Lund, Sweden. Eric.Warrant@cob.lu.se
D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003624:Darkness; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D008027:Light; D017949:Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D017948:Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*
D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate