photoreceptor

(noun)

a specialized protein that is able to detect and react to light

Related Terms

  • phototropism
  • photomorphogenesis
  • photoperiodism

Examples of photoreceptor in the following topics:

  • Plant Responses to Light

    • The response of plants to light is mediated by different photoreceptors: a protein covalently-bonded to a light-absorbing pigment called a chromophore; together, called a chromoprotein.
    • The chromophore of the photoreceptor absorbs light of specific wavelengths, causing structural changes in the photoreceptor protein.
    • Sensory photoreceptors absorb light in these particular regions of the visible light spectrum because of the quality of light available in the daylight spectrum.
  • Transduction of Light

    • When light hits a photoreceptor, it causes a shape change in the retinal, altering its structure from a bent (cis) form of the molecule to its linear (trans) isomer.
    • Photoreceptors in the retina continuously undergo tonic activity.
    • Sometimes horizontal cells carry signals from one rod or cone to other photoreceptors and to several bipolar cells.
    • When a rod or cone stimulates a horizontal cell, the horizontal cell inhibits more-distant photoreceptors and bipolar cells, creating lateral inhibition.
    • (a) Rhodopsin, the photoreceptor in vertebrates, has two parts: the trans-membrane protein opsin and retinal.
  • Blue Light Response

    • Like all plant photoreceptors, phototropins consist of a protein portion and a light-absorbing portion, called the chromophore, which senses blue wavelengths of light.
    • Cryptochromes are another class of blue-light absorbing photoreceptors.
  • Anatomy of the Eye

    • There are two types of photoreceptors in the retina: rods and cones.
    • Rods and cones are photoreceptors in the retina.
  • Contractile Vacuoles in Microorganisms

    • Structure of Euglena: 1 - Flagellum; 2 - Eye spot / Pigment spot / Stigma; 3 - Photoreceptor; 4 - Short second flagellum; 5 - Reservoir; 6 - Basal body; 7 - Contractile vacuole; 8 - Paramylon granule; 9 - Chloroplasts; 10 - Nucleus; 11 - Nucleolus; 12 - Pellicle
  • Neurons

    • An example of a bipolar neuron is a retinal bipolar cell, which receives signals from photoreceptor cells that are sensitive to light and transmits these signals to ganglion cells that carry the signal to the brain.
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