HORMONAL REGULATION OF THE DISTAL RETINAL PIGMENT OF PALAEMONETES

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Removal of a single eyestalk from the prawn, Palaemonetes, has a result of reducing the ability of the organism to light-adapt the remaining eye. This is interpreted to be due to removal from the body of an important eyestalk source of a light-adapting hormone. Such a removal of a single stalk does not similarly reduce ability to dark-adapt. Expts. in which extracts of eyestalks and various parts of the nervous system are injd. into animals under various conditions indicated that the eyestalks and nervous system are important sources of both light- and dark-adapting factors for the distal retinal pigment. Extracts of the tritocerebral commissure, on the other hand, appear to possess only the dark-adapting factor. Evidence is presented that following transfer of an animal from light to darkness, light-adapting hormone is produced and stored within the body. No appreciable store is seen in animals maintained in bright light. When animals are transferred from light to darkness, dark-adapting hormone which was stored in animals in light, is discharged but the capacity to re-dark-adapt following a brief light flash gradually increased over the course of a few hours in darkness.

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit: