A decrease of cytoplasmic Ca2+-concentration in vertebrate photoreceptor cells after illumination is necessary for light adaptation. Although the mechanisms of adaptation is not completely understood, several Ca2+-dependent cellular processes have been discovered, Some involve calcium-binding proteins like recoverin, guanylyl cyclase-activating protein and calmodulin, and their target proteins rhodopsin kinase, guanylyl cyclase, the cGMP-gated channel, and NO synthase, The activity of several enzymes or channels Is directly controlled by Ca2+ and does not involve calcium-binding proteins, These proteins are pyrophosphatase, protein kinase C and the cGMP-gated channel.