ISSN:
1432-0878
Keywords:
Retina
;
Taurine
;
GABA
;
Glycine
;
Glutamate
;
Immunocytochemistry
;
Lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri (Dipnoi)
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract The morphology of the retina of the Australian lungfish Neoceratodus forsteri was investigated by means of light- and electron microscopy, whilst immunocytochemical studies were performed to determine the cellular distributions of the major amino acid neurotransmitters and other amino acids. The distributions of glycine and GABA were similar to those previously described for teleost, amphibian and mammalian retinae. Labelling was abundant in amacrine cells, whilst GABA was also present in one layer of horizontal cells and some bipolar cells. Taurine was present in both rods and cones, but, unlike the mammalian or avian retina, was absent from other cellular structures, including glial elements. Unexpectedly, the photoreceptor terminals lacked an apparent content of the excitatory amino acid transmitter glutamate. The glutamate that was present in the rods and cones occupied a crescentic arc corresponding to the location of glycogen-rich paraboloids. Asparagine was also present in rods, albeit in the modified mitochondria that formed the elipsoids of the rod inner segments. Arginine, the precursor for formation of nitric oxide, was present in glial cells, and in the paraboloids of both rods and cones.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00414175
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