Phototransduction in Anuran Green Rods: Origins of Extra-Sensitivity.

Green rods (GRs) represent a unique type of photoreceptor to be found in the retinas of anuran amphibians. These cells harbor a cone-specific blue-sensitive visual pigment but exhibit morphology of the outer segment typical for classic red rods (RRs), which makes them a perspective model object for studying cone-rod transmutation. In the present study, we performed detailed electrophysiological examination of the light sensitivity, response kinetics and parameters of discrete and continuous dark noise in GRs of the two anuran species: cane toad and marsh frog.