REVIEW published: 08 December 2017 doi: 10.3389/fncir.2017.00097 Evolution, Development and Function of Vertebrate Cone Oil Droplets Matthew B. Toomey* and Joseph C. Corbo* Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States To distinguish colors, the nervous system must compare the activity of distinct subtypes of photoreceptors that are maximally sensitive to different portions of the light spectrum. In vertebrates, a variety of adaptations have arisen to refine the spectral sensitivity of cone photoreceptors and improve color vision. In this review article, we focus on one such adaptation, the oil droplet, a unique optical organelle found within the inner segment of cone photoreceptors of a diverse array of vertebrate species, from fish to mammals. These droplets, which consist of neutral lipids and carotenoid pigments, are interposed in the path of light through the photoreceptor and modify the intensity and spectrum of light reaching the photosensitive outer segment. In the course of evolution, the optical function of oil droplets has been fine-tuned through changes in carotenoid content. Species active in dim light reduce or eliminate carotenoids to enhance sensitivity, whereas species active in bright light precisely modulate carotenoid double bond conjugation and concentration among cone subtypes to optimize color discrimination and color constancy. Cone oil droplets have sparked the curiosity of vision scientists for more than a century. Accordingly, we begin by briefly reviewing the history of research on oil droplets. We then discuss what is known about the developmental origins Edited by: of oil droplets. Next, we describe recent advances in understanding the function of oil Vilaiwan M. Fernandes, New York University, United States droplets based on biochemical and optical analyses. Finally, we survey the occurrence Reviewed by: and properties of oil droplets across the diversity of vertebrate species and discuss Enrica Strettoi, what these patterns indicate about the evolutionary history and function of this intriguing Istituto di Neuroscienze (CNR), Italy Lorenzo Cangiano, organelle. University of Pisa, Italy Keywords: color vision, spectral sensitivity, carotenoids, visual ecology, photoprotection, cone photoreceptor, *Correspondence: dim-light vision Matthew. B. Toomey [email protected] Joseph C. Corbo INTRODUCTION [email protected] ‘‘When you observe a fragment of [avian] retina from the outside, you see one of the most beautiful Received: 28 September 2017 sights the microscope can afford: the entire field of view is bedecked with tiny globules of different Accepted: 20 November 2017 colors.’’ [authors’ translation from the German] (Hannover, 1840). Published: 08 December 2017 Citation: Cone oil droplets have been a subject of enduring aesthetic fascination and scientific curiosity Toomey MB and Corbo JC for nearly 200 years, as indicated by the observations of Adolph Hannover (above) published (2017) Evolution, Development and in 1840 (Hannover, 1840; Goldsmith et al., 1984). oil droplets are spherical optical organelles Function of Vertebrate Cone Oil m m Droplets. (between 1.6 m and 14 m in diameter, depending on the cone subtype and species) that reside Front. Neural Circuits 11:97. within the sclerad portion of the cone photoreceptor inner segment of a wide range of vertebrate doi: 10.3389/fncir.2017.00097 species (Figure 1; Ives et al., 1983; Goldsmith et al., 1984). The droplets consist of colorless Frontiers in Neural Circuits| www.frontiersin.org 1 December 2017 | Volume 11 | Article 97 Toomey and Corbo Vertebrate Cone Oil Droplet Biology among diverse vertebrate clades (throughout this review, ‘‘clade’’ is meant to indicate a group of organisms that have evolved from a common ancestor). In the early years of oil droplet research, numerous aspects of their biology were studied, including color (Waelchli, 1883), pigment content (Wald and Zussman, 1938), spatial and species distribution (Peiponen, 1964; Muntz, 1972) and function (Walls and Judd, 1933; Muntz, 1972). Early theories of oil droplet function proposed that droplets might: enhance visual acuity by reducing chromatic aberration; improve visual contrast; reduce glare; or protect photoreceptors against damage by short- wavelength light (Muntz, 1972). One theory that was particularly favored suggested that vertebrates possess only a single visual pigment and that oil droplets of varying color act as spectral pre-filters that deliver a modified spectrum of light to the pigment, thereby permitting wavelength discrimination (Roaf, 1933; Wald, 1938; Donner, 1960; Hailman, 1964). This theory was put to rest once the presence of multiple cone pigments was demonstrated in birds and turtles (Liebman and Granda, 1971; Bowmaker and Knowles, 1977). Early oil droplet studies were hampered by subjective FIGURE 1 | The cone oil droplets of the vertebrate retina. (A) The cone oil droplets of the painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) are shown here in a bright field descriptions of oil droplet colors, which were difficult to image of a flat-mounted retina, 400 magnification. (B) Overlaid in this image reproduce across microscopes and observers. Nonetheless, × is the same retinal field as in (A) viewed with ultraviolet (327 nm), blue chemical analyses of whole-retina extracts showed that oil (460–490 nm) and green (520–550 nm) epifluorescent illumination. Note that droplets contained carotenoids (Wald and Zussman, 1938), droplets within each cone photoreceptor subtype have distinct patterns of and early microspectrophotometric (MSP) studies revealed fluorescent excitation and emission that permit five different subtypes to be distinguished. The T-type droplets do not fluoresce because they lack that differently colored droplets absorbed nearly all light carotenoid pigmentation. (C) A schematic representation of the cone below a defined ‘‘cut-off’’ wavelength, transmitting all longer photoreceptors of the chicken (Gallus gallus). The cone subtypes are identified wavelengths (Roaf, 1929; Strother, 1963; Muntz, 1972). Despite by their visual pigment opsins. The nomenclature commonly used for the such progress, the high carotenoid concentration of individual different oil droplet types is also indicated. This drawing is adapted from Toomey et al.(2015). droplets precluded the measurement of detailed absorbance spectra that would allow unequivocal determination of the chemical identity of the carotenoids within individual droplet neutral lipids pigmented with a range of carotenoids that endow types. This problem was eventually solved by Liebman and the droplets of different cone subtypes with colors ranging from Granda(1975), who used MSP to measure the absorption of transparent to brilliant red (Goldsmith et al., 1984). Recent individual turtle oil droplets that had been fused with larger studies indicate that oil droplets have two main functions: they droplets of mineral oil and thereby sufficiently diluted to permit act as intracellular microlenses that enhance light delivery to accurate measurement of carotenoid spectra. This technique was the outer segment (Stavenga and Wilts, 2014; Wilby et al., subsequently utilized by Goldsmith et al.(1984) to define the 2015; Wilby and Roberts, 2017); and they filter the spectrum carotenoid content of multiple oil droplet types from 19 species of light reaching the outer segment, thereby improving color of bird. These groundbreaking studies paved the way for our discrimination and color constancy (Vorobyev et al., 1998; current understanding of oil droplet structure and function. Vorobyev, 2003; Olsson et al., 2016). Enhancement of light delivery is primarily observed in colorless droplets, since light- DEVELOPMENT OF OIL DROPLETS filtering by carotenoids reduces the amount of light reaching the outer segment, thereby negating the lensing effect. While Little is known about the development of cone oil droplets. the stunningly pigmented oil droplets of birds and turtles During chicken (Gallus gallus) embryogenesis, oil droplets first have garnered the most scientific attention, these organelles are appear above the optic nerve head around embryonic day widely, yet patchily, distributed among vertebrates, occurring in 10 (E10) as minute colorless globules (López et al., 2005). five of the seven extant vertebrate classes. Cone oil droplets are Droplet differentiation and growth proceed outward from there, notably absent from the retinas of placental mammals, including following the pattern of photoreceptor neurogenesis. Droplet humans, which is one reason they have escaped the attention pigmentation does not begin until E16–17, and full growth of many modern vision scientists. In this review, we will briefly and differentiation is not complete until around post-hatch consider the colorful history of oil droplet research, speculate day 15. Gene expression profiling of developing chicken cone about the developmental origins of droplets, discuss recent subtypes revealed a number of genes with possible roles in advances in understanding their composition and function, and oil droplet formation (Enright et al., 2015). However, no present a survey of the distribution and properties of oil droplets detailed mechanistic studies of droplet development have been Frontiers in Neural Circuits| www.frontiersin.org 2 December 2017 | Volume 11 | Article 97 Toomey and Corbo Vertebrate Cone Oil Droplet Biology performed. Thus, the molecular underpinnings of oil droplet fatty acids including linoleic