Dramatic improvement of our understanding of the genetic basis of vision was brought by
the molecular characterization of the bovine rhodopsin gene and the human rhodopsin and …

Originally a genetic model organism, the experimental use of Drosophila melanogaster has
grown to include quantitative behavioral analyses, sophisticated perturbations of neuronal …

Many insects use patterns of polarized light in the sky to orient and navigate. Here, we
functionally characterize neural circuitry in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, that …

Ultraviolet (UV) light occupies the spectral range of wavelengths slightly shorter than those
visible to humans. Because of its shorter wavelength, it is more energetic (and potentially …

Drosophila colour vision is achieved by R7 and R8 photoreceptor cells present in every
ommatidium. The fly retina contains two types of ommatidia, called 'pale'and 'yellow', defined …

Genetic approaches in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, have led to a major triumph in
the field of sensory biology—the discovery of multiple large families of sensory receptors …

Color discrimination requires the input of different photoreceptor cells that are sensitive to
different wavelengths of light. The Drosophila visual system contains multiple classes of …

Arrestins have been implicated in the regulation of many G protein-coupled receptor
signaling cascades. Mutations in two Drosophila photoreceptor-specific arrestin genes …

Drosophila visual transduction is the fastest known G-protein-coupled signaling cascade
and has therefore served as a genetically tractable animal model for characterizing rapid …

In insects, visual information is processed in the optic lobe and conveyed to the central
brain. Although neural circuits within the optic lobe have been studied extensively, relatively …