The second messenger for visual excitation in invertebrate phototransduction

Abstract

Invertebrate visual transduction involves a second messenger cascade process that leads to an increase in membrane conductance. The identity of the second messenger that gates the light-dependent channels is presently a major focus of attention, Cyclic GMP, inositol trisphosphate and Ca2+ are the most likely candidates for being such a messenger in the species studied so far. Here we review the available evidence for each of these molecules.