Abstract
The reconversion of thermostable metarhodopsin to rhodopsin seems to be a basic principle of receptor function in invertebrates as studied in cephalopods and insects. The absorption of a quantum of uv light converts an uv-pigment molecule to its thermostable photo-product, initiating simultaneously a generator potential; due to the high probability of the absorption of a quantum of blue light by photoproduct B, the uv-sensitive pigment molecule is regained quickly. By calculation it is estimated that at every moment about 90% of the whole pigment within the receptor has the uv-sensitive configuration. This implies that the sensitivity of the uv receptor is controlled by the spectral distribution of the sky.
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Hamdorf, K., Paulsen, R., Schwemer, J., Taeuber, U. (1972). Photoreconversion of Invertebrate Visual Pigments. In: Wehner, R. (eds) Information Processing in the Visual Systems of Anthropods. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-65477-0_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-65477-0_14
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