True S-cones are concentrated in the ventral mouse retina and wired for color detection in the upper visual field

FM Nadal-Nicolás, VP Kunze, JM Ball, BT Peng… - Elife, 2020 - elifesciences.org
FM Nadal-Nicolás, VP Kunze, JM Ball, BT Peng, A Krishnan, G Zhou, L Dong, W Li
Elife, 2020elifesciences.org
Color, an important visual cue for survival, is encoded by comparing signals from
photoreceptors with different spectral sensitivities. The mouse retina expresses a short
wavelength-sensitive and a middle/long wavelength-sensitive opsin (S-and M-opsin),
forming opposing, overlapping gradients along the dorsal-ventral axis. Here, we analyzed
the distribution of all cone types across the entire retina for two commonly used mouse
strains. We found, unexpectedly, that 'true S-cones'(S-opsin only) are highly concentrated …
Color, an important visual cue for survival, is encoded by comparing signals from photoreceptors with different spectral sensitivities. The mouse retina expresses a short wavelength-sensitive and a middle/long wavelength-sensitive opsin (S- and M-opsin), forming opposing, overlapping gradients along the dorsal-ventral axis. Here, we analyzed the distribution of all cone types across the entire retina for two commonly used mouse strains. We found, unexpectedly, that ‘true S-cones’ (S-opsin only) are highly concentrated (up to 30% of cones) in ventral retina. Moreover, S-cone bipolar cells (SCBCs) are also skewed towards ventral retina, with wiring patterns matching the distribution of true S-cones. In addition, true S-cones in the ventral retina form clusters, which may augment synaptic input to SCBCs. Such a unique true S-cone and SCBC connecting pattern forms a basis for mouse color vision, likely reflecting evolutionary adaptation to enhance color coding for the upper visual field suitable for mice’s habitat and behavior.
eLife