A standardized nomenclature for the rods and cones of the vertebrate retina
(2025) In PLoS Biology 23(5).- Abstract
Vertebrate photoreceptors have been studied for well over a century, but a fixed nomenclature for referring to orthologous cell types across diverse species has been lacking. Instead, photoreceptors have been variably—and often confusingly—named according to morphology, presence/absence of ‘rhodopsin’, spectral sensitivity, chromophore usage, and/or the gene family of the opsin(s) they express. Here, we propose a unified nomenclature for vertebrate rods and cones that aligns with the naming systems of other retinal cell classes and that is based on the photoreceptor type’s putative evolutionary history. This classification is informed by the functional, anatomical, developmental, and molecular identities of the neuron as a whole,... (More)
Vertebrate photoreceptors have been studied for well over a century, but a fixed nomenclature for referring to orthologous cell types across diverse species has been lacking. Instead, photoreceptors have been variably—and often confusingly—named according to morphology, presence/absence of ‘rhodopsin’, spectral sensitivity, chromophore usage, and/or the gene family of the opsin(s) they express. Here, we propose a unified nomenclature for vertebrate rods and cones that aligns with the naming systems of other retinal cell classes and that is based on the photoreceptor type’s putative evolutionary history. This classification is informed by the functional, anatomical, developmental, and molecular identities of the neuron as a whole, including the expression of deeply conserved transcription factors required for development. The proposed names will be applicable across all vertebrates and indicative of the widest possible range of properties, including their postsynaptic wiring, and hence will allude to their common and species-specific roles in vision. Furthermore, the naming system is open-ended to accommodate the future discovery of as-yet unknown photoreceptor types.
(Less)
- author
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-05
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- PLoS Biology
- volume
- 23
- issue
- 5
- article number
- e3003157
- publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105004759335
- pmid:40333813
- ISSN
- 1544-9173
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pbio.3003157
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
- id
- 74b3d946-d049-4d6d-befb-fe0af8179cc3
- date added to LUP
- 2025-08-11 13:25:07
- date last changed
- 2025-08-12 03:00:03
@article{74b3d946-d049-4d6d-befb-fe0af8179cc3,
abstract = {{<p>Vertebrate photoreceptors have been studied for well over a century, but a fixed nomenclature for referring to orthologous cell types across diverse species has been lacking. Instead, photoreceptors have been variably—and often confusingly—named according to morphology, presence/absence of ‘rhodopsin’, spectral sensitivity, chromophore usage, and/or the gene family of the opsin(s) they express. Here, we propose a unified nomenclature for vertebrate rods and cones that aligns with the naming systems of other retinal cell classes and that is based on the photoreceptor type’s putative evolutionary history. This classification is informed by the functional, anatomical, developmental, and molecular identities of the neuron as a whole, including the expression of deeply conserved transcription factors required for development. The proposed names will be applicable across all vertebrates and indicative of the widest possible range of properties, including their postsynaptic wiring, and hence will allude to their common and species-specific roles in vision. Furthermore, the naming system is open-ended to accommodate the future discovery of as-yet unknown photoreceptor types.</p>}},
author = {{Baden, Tom and Angueyra, Juan M. and Bosten, Jenny M. and Collin, Shaun P. and Conway, Bevil R. and Cortesi, Fabio and Dedek, Karin and Euler, Thomas and Flamarique, Iñigo Novales and Franklin, Anna and Haverkamp, Silke and Kelber, Almut and Neuhauss, Stephan C.F. and Li, Wei and Lucas, Robert J. and Osorio, Daniel C. and Shekhar, Karthik and Tommasini, Dario and Yoshimatsu, Takeshi and Corbo, Joseph C.}},
issn = {{1544-9173}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{5}},
publisher = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
series = {{PLoS Biology}},
title = {{A standardized nomenclature for the rods and cones of the vertebrate retina}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003157}},
doi = {{10.1371/journal.pbio.3003157}},
volume = {{23}},
year = {{2025}},
}