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The quail's eye: a biological clock.

H Underwood1, R K Barrett, T Siopes

  • 1Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695.

Journal of Biological Rhythms
|January 1, 1990
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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The biological clock controlling melatonin rhythms in Japanese quail eyes is located within the eye itself, not externally. This ocular melatonin rhythm (OMR) is independent of neural inputs and the other eye.

Area of Science:

  • Chronobiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Ophthalmology

Background:

  • Melatonin production in the eye is regulated by a biological clock.
  • The precise location of this clock (intraocular or extraocular) and its regulation remain areas of investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the intraocular or extraocular site of the biological clock governing ocular melatonin rhythm (OMR) in Japanese quail.
  • To investigate the influence of neural inputs and interocular coupling on the OMR.

Main Methods:

  • Japanese quail were subjected to a 12-hour light-dark cycle with alternating eye patching, creating a 180-degree phase difference between the eyes.
  • Optic nerves were transected to isolate ocular rhythms from extraocular influences.
  • Neural inputs (superior cervical ganglia, isthmo-optic nucleus) were severed.

Related Experiment Videos

  • The effect of permanently patching one eye on re-entrainment to a phase-shifted light-dark cycle was assessed.

    • Main Results:

    • The ocular melatonin rhythm (OMR) in each eye could be entrained independently, even when 180 degrees out of phase.
    • Transecting optic nerves confirmed that the clock driving the OMR is located within the eye.
    • The OMR was unaffected by the removal of sympathetic innervation or input from the isthmo-optic nucleus.
    • The OMR in one eye was not coupled to the OMR in the other eye.

    Conclusions:

    • The biological clock regulating ocular melatonin rhythm in Japanese quail is intrinsically intraocular.
    • The OMR is maintained independently of major neural inputs and is not coupled between the two eyes.