Szular, J., Sehadova, H., Gentile, C., Szabo, G., Chou, W.H., Britt, S.G., Stanewsky, R. (2012). Rhodopsin 5- and Rhodopsin 6-Mediated Clock Synchronization in Drosophila melanogaster Is Independent of Retinal Phospholipase C-β Signaling.  J. Biol. Rhythms 27(1): 25--36.

FBrf0217408

Research paper

Circadian clocks of most organisms are synchronized with the 24-hour solar day by the changes of light and dark. In Drosophila, both the visual photoreceptors in the compound eyes as well as the blue-light photoreceptor Cryptochrome expressed within the brain clock neurons contribute to this clock synchronization. A specialized photoreceptive structure located between the retina and the optic lobes, the Hofbauer-Buchner (H-B) eyelet, projects to the clock neurons in the brain and also participates in light synchronization. The compound eye photoreceptors and the H-B eyelet contain Rhodopsin photopigments, which activate the canonical invertebrate phototransduction cascade after being excited by light. We show here that 2 of the photopigments present in these photoreceptors, Rhodopsin 5 (Rh5) and Rhodopsin 6 (Rh6), contribute to light synchronization in a mutant (norpA(P41) ) that disrupts canonical phototransduction due to the absence of Phospholipase C-β (PLC-β). We reveal that norpA(P41) is a true loss-of-function allele, resulting in a truncated PLC-β protein that lacks the catalytic domain. Light reception mediated by Rh5 and Rh6 must therefore utilize either a different (nonretinal) PLC-β enzyme or alternative signaling mechanisms, at least in terms of clock-relevant photoreception. This novel signaling mode may distinguish Rhodopsin-mediated irradiance detection from image-forming vision in Drosophila.

PMC4405110 (PMC) (EuropePMC)