Optogenetics and vision

In this article the authors discuss electronic and optogenetic approaches for degenerative (blind) retina prosthesis as the main strategies for the restoration of vision to blind people. Primary attention is devoted to the prospects of developing retinal prostheses for the blind using modern optogenetic methods, and rhodopsins, which are photosensitive retinal-binding proteins, are examined as potential tools for such prostheses. The authors consider the question of which particular cells of the degenerative retina for which rhodopsins can be prosthetic as well as ways of delivering the rhodopsin genes to these cells. In conclusion, the authors elucidate the main provisions and tasks related to optogenetic prosthetics for degenerative retina.

Are retinal and retinal-binding proteins involved in stomatal response to blue light?

Stomata respond to blue light and it is generally believed that the photoreceptor for this response is located inside the guard cells. Only a small number of blue light photoreceptors have been identified so far, namely cryptochromes and phototropins, and they show overlapping functions in regulating many different responses to light. The possibility that plants may possess other receptors regulating blue light responses under different light conditions cannot be excluded. In this paper we show the presence of two retinal-binding proteins in Commelina communis and we report the identification of retinal, a chromophore usually bound to the photoreceptor rhodopsin and previously identified in algae and other higher plants. We show that, under our experimental conditions, stomata open promptly when exposed to blue light and we demonstrated that this response is dependent on retinal. We hypothesise that rhodopsin-like retinal-binding proteins might be involved in stomatal response to blue light.