Photoreceptive areas responsible for the regulation of photoperiodicity have been localized in the brain of some avian species. We found that immunoreactivities to rhodopsin and the alpha-subunit of rod-type transducin (Gt(1)alpha) were colocalized in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) contacting neurons in the pigeon lateral septum, a possible site for photoreception. Furthermore, RT-PCR analyses showed specific gene expression of both cGMP-phosphodiesterase beta-subunit and cone-type cGMP-gated cation channel alpha-subunit in this region. These results suggest that several components in rod/cone photoreceptors compositely contribute to the deep encephalic phototransduction cascade.
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Wada et al. (2000) studied this question.
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