Question

in your own words, describe the stwps involved in phototransduction in rod cells. start with a photon of loght and end with an action potential in the optic nerve.

Answer 1

The steps involved in photo transduction are as follows-

1. The light enters the eyes. The photons of the light are absorbed by the rods cells. This photon cause conformational change in the retinal pigment rhodopsin.

2. Above step cause activation of rhodopsin into metarhodopsin 2.

3. This activated rhodopsin now cause decrease in level of cyclic GMP in cytoplasm of retinal cells.

4 . Decreased cGMP cause opening of sodium channels.

Increase in sodium influx results in generation of action potential..

This action potential travels through optic nerve and reaches visual area in brain.