Title: Novel photoreception in Drosophila larval body wall: from molecules to behavior

Speaker: Xiang Yang
         Postdoctoral fellow, Yuh-Nung Jan lab
         Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco

时间：15:00-16:00

日期：June 28, 2011

地点：医学院科研楼B502会议室

Abstract
       Photoreceptors, upon absorbing photons, trigger image-forming visual perception as well as non-image-forming functions such as circadian regulation and phototaxis. Photoreceptors are typically clustered in eyes and related structures such as Bolwig organs of Drosophila larvae. I found, surprisingly, that a subset of sensory neurons in Drosophila larval body wall respond to UV, violet and blue light, and are major mediators of light avoidance, particularly at high light intensities. These novel photoreceptors are present in every body segment and have their dendrites tiling the entire larval body wall. These photoreceptors use novel phototransduction machinery and enable larvae to sense light exposure over their entire bodies and move out of danger.