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Veilleux CC, Kawamura S, Montague MJ, Hiwatashi T, Matsushita Y, Fernandez‐Duque E, Link A, Di Fiore A, Snodderly DM. Color vision and niche partitioning in a diverse neotropical primate community in lowland Amazonian Ecuador. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:5742-5758. [PMID: 34026044 PMCID: PMC8131790 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
A recent focus in community ecology has been on how within-species variability shapes interspecific niche partitioning. Primate color vision offers a rich system in which to explore this issue. Most neotropical primates exhibit intraspecific variation in color vision due to allelic variation at the middle-to-long-wavelength opsin gene on the X chromosome. Studies of opsin polymorphisms have typically sampled primates from different sites, limiting the ability to relate this genetic diversity to niche partitioning. We surveyed genetic variation in color vision of five primate species, belonging to all three families of the primate infraorder Platyrrhini, found in the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve in Ecuador. The frugivorous spider monkeys and woolly monkeys (Ateles belzebuth and Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii, family Atelidae) each had two opsin alleles, and more than 75% of individuals carried the longest-wavelength (553-556 nm) allele. Among the other species, Saimiri sciureus macrodon (family Cebidae) and Pithecia aequatorialis (family Pitheciidae) had three alleles, while Plecturocebus discolor (family Pitheciidae) had four alleles-the largest number yet identified in a wild population of titi monkeys. For all three non-atelid species, the middle-wavelength (545 nm) allele was the most common. Overall, we identified genetic evidence of fourteen different visual phenotypes-seven types of dichromats and seven trichromats-among the five sympatric taxa. The differences we found suggest that interspecific competition among primates may influence intraspecific frequencies of opsin alleles. The diversity we describe invites detailed study of foraging behavior of different vision phenotypes to learn how they may contribute to niche partitioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carrie C. Veilleux
- Department of Anthropology and Primate Molecular Ecology and Evolution LaboratoryUniversity of Texas at AustinAustinTXUSA
- Department of AnatomyMidwestern UniversityGlendaleAZUSA
| | - Shoji Kawamura
- Department of Integrated BiosciencesUniversity of TokyoKashiwaJapan
| | | | | | - Yuka Matsushita
- Department of Integrated BiosciencesUniversity of TokyoKashiwaJapan
| | - Eduardo Fernandez‐Duque
- Department of Anthropology and School of the EnvironmentYale UniversityNew HavenCTUSA
- College of Biological and Environmental SciencesUniversidad San Francisco de QuitoCumbayáEcuador
| | - Andres Link
- College of Biological and Environmental SciencesUniversidad San Francisco de QuitoCumbayáEcuador
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversidad de Los AndesBogotaColombia
| | - Anthony Di Fiore
- Department of Anthropology and Primate Molecular Ecology and Evolution LaboratoryUniversity of Texas at AustinAustinTXUSA
- College of Biological and Environmental SciencesUniversidad San Francisco de QuitoCumbayáEcuador
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Jacobs RL, MacFie TS, Spriggs AN, Baden AL, Morelli TL, Irwin MT, Lawler RR, Pastorini J, Mayor M, Lei R, Culligan R, Hawkins MTR, Kappeler PM, Wright PC, Louis EE, Mundy NI, Bradley BJ. Novel opsin gene variation in large-bodied, diurnal lemurs. Biol Lett 2017; 13:rsbl.2017.0050. [PMID: 28275167 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2017.0050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2017] [Accepted: 02/15/2017] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Some primate populations include both trichromatic and dichromatic (red-green colour blind) individuals due to allelic variation at the X-linked opsin locus. This polymorphic trichromacy is well described in day-active New World monkeys. Less is known about colour vision in Malagasy lemurs, but, unlike New World monkeys, only some day-active lemurs are polymorphic, while others are dichromatic. The evolutionary pressures underlying these differences in lemurs are unknown, but aspects of species ecology, including variation in activity pattern, are hypothesized to play a role. Limited data on X-linked opsin variation in lemurs make such hypotheses difficult to evaluate. We provide the first detailed examination of X-linked opsin variation across a lemur clade (Indriidae). We sequenced the X-linked opsin in the most strictly diurnal and largest extant lemur, Indri indri, and nine species of smaller, generally diurnal indriids (Propithecus). Although nocturnal Avahi (sister taxon to Propithecus) lacks a polymorphism, at least eight species of diurnal indriids have two or more X-linked opsin alleles. Four rainforest-living taxa-I. indri and the three largest Propithecus species-have alleles not previously documented in lemurs. Moreover, we identified at least three opsin alleles in Indri with peak spectral sensitivities similar to some New World monkeys.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel L Jacobs
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA .,Centre ValBio Research Station, Ranomafana, Fianarantsoa, Madagascar
| | - Tammie S MacFie
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Amanda N Spriggs
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.,Department of Anthropology, University at Albany-SUNY, Albany, NY 12222, USA
| | - Andrea L Baden
- Centre ValBio Research Station, Ranomafana, Fianarantsoa, Madagascar.,Department of Anthropology, Hunter College-CUNY, and The New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Toni Lyn Morelli
- Centre ValBio Research Station, Ranomafana, Fianarantsoa, Madagascar.,Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Mitchell T Irwin
- Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA
| | - Richard R Lawler
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, USA
| | - Jennifer Pastorini
- Anthropologisches Institut, Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Mireya Mayor
- Centre ValBio Research Station, Ranomafana, Fianarantsoa, Madagascar
| | - Runhua Lei
- Conservation Genetics Department, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Omaha, NE 68107, USA
| | - Ryan Culligan
- Conservation Genetics Department, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Omaha, NE 68107, USA
| | - Melissa T R Hawkins
- Conservation Genetics Department, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Omaha, NE 68107, USA
| | - Peter M Kappeler
- Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Kellnerweg 4, Göttingen 37077, Germany
| | - Patricia C Wright
- Centre ValBio Research Station, Ranomafana, Fianarantsoa, Madagascar.,Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - Edward E Louis
- Conservation Genetics Department, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Omaha, NE 68107, USA
| | | | - Brenda J Bradley
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
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Goulart VDLR, Boubli JP, Young RJ. Medium/Long wavelength sensitive opsin diversity in Pitheciidae. Sci Rep 2017; 7:7737. [PMID: 28798406 PMCID: PMC5552705 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-08143-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2017] [Accepted: 07/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
New World primates feature a complex colour vision system. Most species have polymorphic colour vision where males have a dichromatic colour perception and females can be either dichromatic or trichromatic. The adaptive value of high allelic diversity of opsins, a light sensitive protein, found in primates' eyes remains unknown. Studies revealing the allelic diversity are important as they shed light on our understanding of the adaptive value of differences in the colouration of species and their ecologies. Here we investigate the allelic types found in Pitheciidae, an understudied New World primate family, revealing the diversity of medium/long wavelength sensitive opsins both in cryptic and conspicuous species of this primate family. We found five alleles in Cacajao, six in Callicebinae (i.e. Plecturocebus, Cheracebus, and Callicebus), four in Chiropotes, and three in Pithecia, some of them reported for the first time. Both cryptic and conspicuous species in this group presented high allelic diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinicius D L R Goulart
- CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasília, DF, 70040-020, Brazil.
- School of Environment and Life Sciences, Peel Building, University of Salford Manchester, Salford, M5 4WT, UK.
| | - Jean P Boubli
- School of Environment and Life Sciences, Peel Building, University of Salford Manchester, Salford, M5 4WT, UK
| | - Robert J Young
- School of Environment and Life Sciences, Peel Building, University of Salford Manchester, Salford, M5 4WT, UK
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Kawamura S. Color vision diversity and significance in primates inferred from genetic and field studies. Genes Genomics 2016; 38:779-791. [PMID: 27594978 PMCID: PMC4987397 DOI: 10.1007/s13258-016-0448-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2016] [Accepted: 06/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Color provides a reliable cue for object detection and identification during various behaviors such as foraging, mate choice, predator avoidance and navigation. The total number of colors that a visual system can discriminate is largely dependent on the number of different spectral types of cone opsins present in the retina and the spectral separations among them. Thus, opsins provide an excellent model system to study evolutionary interconnections at the genetic, phenotypic and behavioral levels. Primates have evolved a unique ability for three-dimensional color vision (trichromacy) from the two-dimensional color vision (dichromacy) present in the majority of other mammals. This was accomplished via allelic differentiation (e.g. most New World monkeys) or gene duplication (e.g. Old World primates) of the middle to long-wavelength sensitive (M/LWS, or red-green) opsin gene. However, questions remain regarding the behavioral adaptations of primate trichromacy. Allelic differentiation of the M/LWS opsins results in extensive color vision variability in New World monkeys, where trichromats and dichromats are found in the same breeding population, enabling us to directly compare visual performances among different color vision phenotypes. Thus, New World monkeys can serve as an excellent model to understand and evaluate the adaptive significance of primate trichromacy in a behavioral context. I shall summarize recent findings on color vision evolution in primates and introduce our genetic and behavioral study of vision-behavior interrelationships in free-ranging sympatric capuchin and spider monkey populations in Costa Rica.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shoji Kawamura
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bioscience BLDG 502, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8562 Japan
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Corso J, Bowler M, Heymann EW, Roos C, Mundy NI. Highly polymorphic colour vision in a New World monkey with red facial skin, the bald uakari (Cacajao calvus). Proc Biol Sci 2016; 283:20160067. [PMID: 27053753 PMCID: PMC4843651 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.0067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2016] [Accepted: 03/16/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Colour vision is highly variable in New World monkeys (NWMs). Evidence for the adaptive basis of colour vision in this group has largely centred on environmental features such as foraging benefits for differently coloured foods or predator detection, whereas selection on colour vision for sociosexual communication is an alternative hypothesis that has received little attention. The colour vision of uakaris (Cacajao) is of particular interest because these monkeys have the most dramatic red facial skin of any primate, as well as a unique fission/fusion social system and a specialist diet of seeds. Here, we investigate colour vision in a wild population of the bald uakari,C. calvus, by genotyping the X-linked opsin locus. We document the presence of a polymorphic colour vision system with an unprecedented number of functional alleles (six), including a novel allele with a predicted maximum spectral sensitivity of 555 nm. This supports the presence of strong balancing selection on different alleles at this locus. We consider different hypotheses to explain this selection. One possibility is that trichromacy functions in sexual selection, enabling females to choose high-quality males on the basis of red facial coloration. In support of this, there is some evidence that health affects facial coloration in uakaris, as well as a high prevalence of blood-borne parasitism in wild uakari populations. Alternatively, the low proportion of heterozygous female trichromats in the population may indicate selection on different dichromatic phenotypes, which might be related to cryptic food coloration. We have uncovered unexpected diversity in the last major lineage of NWMs to be assayed for colour vision, which will provide an interesting system to dissect adaptation of polymorphic trichromacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josmael Corso
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Avenida Bento Gonçalves 9500, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul 91501-970, Brazil
| | - Mark Bowler
- Behavioral Ecology Division, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA 92027-7000, USA Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, Göttingen 37077, Germany
| | - Eckhard W Heymann
- Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, Göttingen 37077, Germany
| | - Christian Roos
- Gene Bank of Primates and Primate Genetics Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, Göttingen 37077, Germany
| | - Nicholas I Mundy
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
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Hofmann L, Palczewski K. Advances in understanding the molecular basis of the first steps in color vision. Prog Retin Eye Res 2015; 49:46-66. [PMID: 26187035 DOI: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2015.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2015] [Revised: 07/07/2015] [Accepted: 07/09/2015] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Serving as one of our primary environmental inputs, vision is the most sophisticated sensory system in humans. Here, we present recent findings derived from energetics, genetics and physiology that provide a more advanced understanding of color perception in mammals. Energetics of cis-trans isomerization of 11-cis-retinal accounts for color perception in the narrow region of the electromagnetic spectrum and how human eyes can absorb light in the near infrared (IR) range. Structural homology models of visual pigments reveal complex interactions of the protein moieties with the light sensitive chromophore 11-cis-retinal and that certain color blinding mutations impair secondary structural elements of these G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Finally, we identify unsolved critical aspects of color tuning that require future investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas Hofmann
- Department of Pharmacology and Cleveland Center for Membrane and Structural Biology, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
| | - Krzysztof Palczewski
- Department of Pharmacology and Cleveland Center for Membrane and Structural Biology, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
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