Connexin 36 is needed for electrical communication between mouse rod and cone cells

Cx36 knockout mice display minimal responses to dim light flashes, with at most small sub-millivolt signals.

• Dim flashes evoke small responses in Cx36 knockout cone cells, contrasting with larger responses in wild type cones.
• Residual responses in knockout cones originate from the cones themselves, not from rod signals.
• The spectral preference of these residual responses aligns with the cones, not rods.
• The time-to-peak of responses in knockout cones is shorter compared to those in coupled wild type cones.
• Pharmacological blockage of gap junctions does not reduce the amplitude of responses in Cx36 knockout cones.
• Data indicates that Cx36 is essential for the formation of functional rod-cone gap junctional channels.

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