Abstract
This review deals particularly with the recent literature on the structural and functional aspects of the retino‐brain‐pituitary system that controls the physiological process of background adaptation in the aquatic toad Xenopus laevis. Taking together the large amount of multidisciplinary data, a consistent picture emerges of a highly plastic system that efficiently responds to changes in the environmental light condition by releasing POMC‐derived peptides, such as the peptide α‐melanophore‐stimulating hormone (α‐MSH), into the circulation. This plasticity is exhibited by both the central nervous system and the pituitary pars intermedia, at the level of molecules, subcellular structures, synapses, and cells. Signal transduction in the pars intermedia of the pituitary gland of Xenopus laevis appears to be a complex event, involving various environmental factors (e.g., light and temperature) that act via distinct brain centres and neuronal messengers converging on the melanotrope cells. In the melanotropes, these messages are translated by specific receptors and second messenger systems, in particular via Ca^2+^ oscillations, controlling main secretory events such as gene transcription, POMC‐precursor translation and processing, posttranslational peptide modifications, and release of a bouquet of POMC‐derived peptides. In conclusion, the Xenopus hypothalamo‐hypophyseal system involved in background adaptation reveals how neuronal plasticity at the molecular, cellular and organismal levels, enable an organism to respond adequately to the continuously changing environmental factors demanding physiological adaptation. Microsc. Res. Tech. 54:188–199, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.