RUI: Fuctional Development of an Insect Visual System

视觉包括通过眼睛中的光色素分子捕捉光能；这些光色素被结合到光感受器细胞内的精细膜结构中。随着时间的推移，这些膜通常表现出很高的周转率，这些含有大量光色素蛋白的有组织膜是如何形成和调节的，其机制尚不清楚。该项目使用昆虫的复眼--飞蛾Manduca--作为模型系统。这种生物体已经是发育和生理学研究的模型。膜组装和光敏色素插入的途径和调控可以在实验上分离。超微结构、生化、免疫细胞化学和电生理技术将被用来研究这种具有复杂视觉系统的夜间昆虫周转的机制和意义。这一新方法的本科院校研究项目将对视觉科学产生影响，也将对培养现代神经科学本科生产生重要影响。

Vision involves capturing the energy of light by photopigment molecules in the eye; these photopigments are incorporated into elaborate membrane structures within photoreceptor cells. These membranes often show high rates of turnover during time, and the mechanisms remain unclear for how these organized membranes, incorporating high amounts of photopigment proteins, are formed and regulated. This project uses as a model system the compound eye of an insect, the moth Manduca. This organism is already a model for developmental and physiological studies. The pathway and regulation of membrane assembly and photopigment insertion can be separated experimentally. Ultrastructural, biochemical, immunocytochemical, and electrophysiological techniques will be used for examining the mechanisms and significance of turnover in this nocturnal insect with a complex visual system. This Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) project with a novel approach will have an impact on visual science, and also will be important for its impact on training undergraduates in modern neuroscience.