Figure 1

Immunostaining of the adult zebra finch fovea. (a) An image of zebra finches at P40. (b) A stereoscopic image of an adult zebra finch eye cup after removing the anterior part of the eye and vitreous body. The arrowhead indicates the fovea. Scale bar = 2 mm. (c,d) Immunostaining of retinal sections from adult zebra finches. (c) Retinal sections were stained with the anti-S-opsin (green) and anti-M-opsin (red) antibodies (upper panel), and the anti-Pax6 (green) and anti-Chx10 (red) antibodies (lower panel). Cell nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Cone photoreceptor, amacrine, ganglion and bipolar cells were present in both the fovea and the periphery in the retina. Scale bar = 50 μm. (d) Retinal sections were stained using anti-Rhodopsin (green) and anti-Gnat1 (red) antibodies, and DAPI (blue). Rod photoreceptor cells were present only in the periphery and absent in the fovea, indicating the existence of rod-free zone (dotted lines) in the zebra finch retina. The arrowhead indicates a foveal pit. Scale bar = 200 μm. OS, outer segment; ONL, outer nuclear layer; IPL, inner plexiform layer; INL, inner nuclear layer; GCL, ganglion cell layer.