Abstract
Voltage noise analysis was performed on membrane potentials recorded from the photoreceptor cells of the honeybee drone. Voltage power spectra showed an increase in noise amplitude on passing from the dark to moderate light; with strong light noise fell to near the dark level.
At intermediate light intensities the noise was reduced by application of tetrodotoxin.
The probable effects on the power spectra of electrical coupling between cells are discussed. It is tentatively estimated that the unitary event in weak light is a conductance increase of 20 pS. The results are compared with previous results from photoreceptors of other species that appear to be specially adapted to weaker illuminations.
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Ferraro, M., Levi, R., Lovisolo, D. et al. Voltage noise in honeybee drone photoreceptors. Biophys. Struct. Mechanism 10, 129–142 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00537555
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00537555