The Relationship between Membrane Fatty Acids and the Development of the Rat Retina

The vertebrate rod visual cell is anatomically divided into two compartments, the inner segment and the outer segment (Fig. 1). The rod inner segment contains the cellular organelles responsible for most, if not all, of the biosynthetic activity of the cell. One end of the inner segment makes synaptic contact with horizontal and bipolar cells, while the other is connected to the rod outer segments (ROS) via a short connecting cilium. The ROS are made up of hundreds of membraneous discs. Each is free-floating and apparently does not contact other discs or the plasma membrane.