Article

The eyes of Limulus polyphemus (Xiphosura, Chelicerata) and their afferent and efferent projections.

Whitney Laboratory and Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd., St. Augustine, FL 32080, USA.
Arthropod structure & development (impact factor: 1.11). 01/2007; 35(4):261-74. DOI:10.1016/j.asd.2006.07.002
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT The visual system of the American horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus (L. polyphemus) is an important preparation for studying the photoresponse, the circadian modulation of the photoresponse and visual information processing. Given its unique position in phylogeny the structure of its visual system also informs studies of the relationships among arthropods and the characteristics of eurarthropods. Much has been learned about the organization of the relatively simple L. polyphemus visual system, but much remains to be discovered. This review summarizes current knowledge of the structure of L. polyphemus eyes and the organization of their afferent and efferent projections and points to important unanswered questions.

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  • Article: Isolation and expression of Pax6 and atonal homologues in the American horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus.
    David C Blackburn, Kevin W Conley, David C Plachetzki, Karen Kempler, Barbara-Anne Battelle, Nadean L Brown
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    ABSTRACT: Pax6 regulates eye development in many animals. In addition, Pax6 activates atonal transcription factors in both invertebrate and vertebrate eyes. Here, we investigate the roles of Pax6 and atonal during embryonic development of Limulus polyphemus rudimentary lateral, medial and ventral eyes, and the initiation of lateral ommatidial eye and medial ocelli formation. Limulus eye development is of particular interest because these animals hold a unique position in arthropod phylogeny and possess multiple eye types. Furthermore, the molecular underpinnings of eye development have yet to be investigated in chelicerates. We characterized a Limulus Pax6 gene, with multiple splice products and predicted protein isoforms, and one atonal homologue. Unexpectedly, neither gene is expressed in the developing eye types examined, although both genes are present in the lateral sense organ, a structure of unknown function.
    Developmental Dynamics 08/2008; 237(8):2209-19. · 2.54 Impact Factor
Data provided are for informational purposes only. Although carefully collected, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The impact factor represents a rough estimation of the journal's impact factor and does not reflect the actual current impact factor. Publisher conditions are provided by RoMEO. Differing provisions from the publisher's actual policy or licence agreement may be applicable.

Keywords

American horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus
 
efferent projections
 
eurarthropods
 
L. polyphemus eyes
 
photoresponse
 
points
 
review summarizes current knowledge
 
simple L. polyphemus visual system
 
unanswered questions
 
unique position
 
visual information processing
 
visual system
 

B A Battelle