A standardized nomenclature for the rods and cones of the vertebrate retina
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.
Authors
- Bevil R. Conway (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7715-9253)
- Fabio Cortesi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7518-6159)
- Thomas Euler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4567-6966)
- Anna Franklin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2201-4377)
- Silke Haverkamp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3084-6544)
- Dario Tommasini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1214-6547)
- Stephan C. F. Neuhauss (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9615-480X)
- Daniel Osorio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5856-527X)
- Tom Baden (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2808-4210)
- Shaun P. Collin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6236-0771)
- Karthik Shekhar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4349-6600)
- Karin Dedek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1490-0141)
- Joseph C. Corbo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9323-7140)
- Jenny M. Bosten (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8944-0990)
- Robert James Lucas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1088-8029)
- Almut Kelber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3937-2808)
- Iñigo Novales Flamarique (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2588-9243)
- Juan M Angueyra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9217-3069)
- Takeshi Yoshimatsu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4939-2020)
- Wei Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2897-649X)
Institutions
- Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg (DE)
- University of Sussex (GB)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Simon Fraser University (CA)
- Lund University (SE)
- La Trobe University (AU)
- University of Zurich (CH)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- University of Manchester (GB)
- National Eye Institute (US)
- Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior – caesar (DE)
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- PLoS Biology
- Published
- 2025-05-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003157
- Citations
- 14
- Primary Topic
- Retinal Development and Disorders
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 11.28
Funders
- McKnight Foundation
- Wellcome Trust
- UK Research and Innovation
- Leverhulme Trust
- Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
- National Eye Institute
- H2020 European Research Council