Gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the retina, possibly participating in its normal development. The distribution of gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors was therefore examined in mature and developing rabbit retina by GABA(A) receptor alpha1 and beta2/3 subunit immunocytochemistry. Beta2/3 subunits appeared already at the E25 stage (25 days after gestation) although only weakly and irregularly. Alpha1 subunit immunoreactivity was first observed at birth. On the fifth postnatal day, immunostaining was clearly seen in the inner plexiform layer, and weaker, in the outer plexiform layer. There were at this stage no well-delineated sublayers in either the inner or the outer plexiform layer, but three clearly defined sublayers appeared in the inner plexiform layer at PN10. Amacrine cell bodies now also appeared, labelling for both the GABA(A) receptor alpha1 and the beta2/3 chains. A punctuate labelling appeared in the outer plexiform layer. From the 20th postnatal day, the immunoreactivity was similar to that seen in adult rabbits. Like in the adult, the alpha1 and beta2/3 subunits of the GABA(A) receptor thus colocalize predominantly in certain amacrine cells and in processes of the inner plexiform layer during the development of the retina. The GABA(A) receptors appear later than GABA during the development of the rabbit retina, and functioning GABA neurotransmitter circuits appear to be assembled primarily after the 3rd to 5th postnatal day. Our results support the hypothesis that GABA may have other functions than mediating classic synaptic neurotransmission before the formation of receptors containing the alpha1 and beta2/3 subunits. Like in the brain, the alpha subunits may have more selective functions during the development than the beta subunits.