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Emmetropization in Arthropods: A New Vision Test in Several Arthropods Suggests Visual Input may not be Necessary to Establish Correct Focusing

Owens, Madeline
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5359-2834
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1563527198165493

Abstract Details

2019, MS, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: Biological Sciences.
The visual systems of vertebrates and invertebrates alike must be able to achieve and maintain emmetropia, a state of correct focusing, in order to effectively execute visually guided behavior. Vertebrate studies, as well as a study in squid, have revealed that for them correct focusing is accomplished through a combination of gene regulation during early development, and homeostatic visual input from the environment that fine-tunes the eye. While eye growth towards emmetropia has been long researched in vertebrates, it is largely unknown how it is established in arthropods. To address this question, we built a micro-ophthalmoscope that allows us to directly measure how a lens projects an image onto the retina in the eyes of small, live arthropods, and to compare the eyes of different light-reared and dark-reared arthropods. Surprisingly, and in sharp contrast to vertebrates, our data on a diverse set of arthropods suggests that visual input in arthropods may not be necessary at least for the initial development of emmetropic eyes. First, we measured the image-forming larval eyes of diving beetles (Thermonectus marmoratus), the eyes of which are known to rapidly and dramatically grow between larval instars. Then we compared jumping spiders (Phidippus audax) after their emergence from their egg case and finally we compared measurements of individual ommatidia of the compound eyes of flesh flies (Sarcophaga bullata) that had developed and emerged either under light or dark conditions. The refractive error of these arthropods was comparable between rearing conditions, suggesting that visual input plays less of a role in developing arthropod eyes than it does in other eyes that develop emmetropia. Although it remains unclear if visual input that is received after the initial development can further improve focusing, these results suggest that in arthropods the initial coordination between the lens refractive power and eye size may be more strongly pre-determined than typically is the case in vertebrates. This research opens new questions regarding how the growth of arthropod eyes might be regulated and highlights arthropod eyes as a particularly powerful model system for organogenesis.
Elke Buschbeck, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Nathan Morehouse, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Annette Stowasser, Ph.D (Committee Member)
34 p.
Biology
Emmetropia; Vision; Arthropod

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Owens, M. (2019). Emmetropization in Arthropods: A New Vision Test in Several Arthropods Suggests Visual Input may not be Necessary to Establish Correct Focusing [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1563527198165493

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Owens, Madeline. Emmetropization in Arthropods: A New Vision Test in Several Arthropods Suggests Visual Input may not be Necessary to Establish Correct Focusing. 2019. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1563527198165493.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Owens, Madeline. "Emmetropization in Arthropods: A New Vision Test in Several Arthropods Suggests Visual Input may not be Necessary to Establish Correct Focusing." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1563527198165493

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1563527198165493
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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.