Cytochrome b5 protects photoreceptors from light stress-induced lipid peroxidation and retinal degeneration

Flies show an increase in blue light-induced retinal degeneration between 1 and 6 days post-eclosion. a A custom designed optical stimulator was used to expose flies to blue light at 2？mW/cm2. Male flies were raised in 12？h/12？h light/dark conditions for 1–6 days prior to blue light exposure or dark control. b Confocal images of adult retinas stained with phalloidin (red) and 4C5 (Rh1, green) from male white-eyed (w 1118) flies 1, 3 and 6 days post-eclosion exposed to 8？h blue light or dark (control). Retinas were dissected and immunostained following 12 days dark incubation post-treatment to assess rhabdomere loss. Scale bars: 1×, 10？μm; 4×, 5？μm. Unless otherwise stated, these details are constant for all confocal images presented in subsequent figures. c Box plots showing rhabdomere loss quantified using confocal images. Means are shown by crosses. Points are overlayed for individual animals (single eye/animal) representing 4 independent light treatments with 5 flies per treatment. The distribution for each blue light-treated group was compared with the dark control for the same age using Kruskal–Wallis test followed by pairwise Wilcoxon Rank Sum test with Benjamini and Hochberg correction, and the false discovery rate (FDR) for each comparison is shown. ns not significant. Unless otherwise stated, these details are constant for all box plots presented in subsequent figure