The polar behavior of frog photoreceptors
ChirieriKovacs, Eugenia ; Savopol, Tudor ; Dinu, A.
Rod outer segment; Photoreceptor cell; Electric field; Orientation
It was observed that the outer segments of the frog visual rods orient along the direction of an externally applied static electric field. The orientation ability of the rod outer segments seems to be fuelled by the cell energy. The dipolar moment per rod was determined using a model which considers rod outer segments as rigid dipoles interacting with the electric field in a viscous medium. The mean dipolar charge of ROS was determined as being (2.10 +/- 0.17) . 10(-14) C.