PREFERENCE OF PEANUT AGGLUTININ LABELING FOR LONG-WAVELENGTH-SENSITIVE CONE PHOTORECEPTORS IN THE DACE RETINA

Peanut agglutinin (PNA) was known for its selective binding to cone ce lls. In the present study, we investigated whether there was any diffe rence in PNA binding among various subtypes of cone photoreceptor cell s in the dace retina. The outer segments of the long-double- and long- single-cone cells were preferentially labeled with PNA. Ultrastructura l pre-embedding labeling revealed that the binding sites of PNA were c onfined to the calycal processes of these cells. By contrast, only sli ght labeling was discerned on the corresponding regions of other types of cone cells. The results indicate that PNA can distinguish the long -wavelength-sensitive cone from the short-to-middle-wavelength-sensiti ve cone cells. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.