In the eye, the function of same-type photoreceptors must be regionally adjusted to process a highly asymmetrical natural visual world. Here, we show that UV cones in the larval zebrafish area temporalis are specifically tuned for UV-bright prey capture in their upper frontal visual field, which may use the signal from a single cone at a time. For this, UV-photon detection probability is regionally boosted more than 10-fold. Next, in vivo two-photon imaging, transcriptomics, and computational modeling reveal that these cones use an elevated baseline of synaptic calcium to facilitate the encoding of bright objects, which in turn results from expressional tuning of phototransduction genes. Moreover, the light-driven synaptic calcium signal is regionally slowed by interactions with horizontal cells and later accentuated at the level of glutamate release driving retinal networks. These regional differences tally with variations between peripheral and foveal cones in primates and hint at a common mechanistic origin.
Funding
Anisotropic retinal circuits for processing of colour and space in nature - Lister Institute Research Prize; G2503; LISTER INSTITUTE
Philip Leverhulme Prize - Biological Sciences; G2276; LEVERHULME TRUST; PLP-2017-005
A window into the fly brain: “dual imaging” of neural circuits involved in locomotor behaviour in Drosophila; G2180; MRC-MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
NeuroVisEco - Zebrafish vision in its natural context: from natural scenes through retinal and central processing to behaviour; G1871; EUROPEAN UNION; 677687
Anisotropic retinal circuits for processing of colour and space in nature; G2397; BBSRC-BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL; BB/R014817/1
Optical Electrophysiology: Establishing fluorescence voltage imaging capability at Sussex Neuroscience; G2018; MRC-MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL