Movement of palisade in locust retinula cells when illuminated

Abstract

Summary In dark-adapted eyes cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum collect near the rhabdom and form around it a functionally significant region 2 to 4 µ across, of lowered refractive index. In light-adapted eyes this structure is dispersed as vacuoles in the cytoplasm, and instead mitochondria are crowded round the rhabdom. Onion bodies up to 8 µ, in diameter occur in the retinula cell cytoplasm.