1
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Schott RK, Fujita MK, Streicher JW, Gower DJ, Thomas KN, Loew ER, Bamba Kaya AG, Bittencourt-Silva GB, Guillherme Becker C, Cisneros-Heredia D, Clulow S, Davila M, Firneno TJ, Haddad CFB, Janssenswillen S, Labisko J, Maddock ST, Mahony M, Martins RA, Michaels CJ, Mitchell NJ, Portik DM, Prates I, Roelants K, Roelke C, Tobi E, Woolfolk M, Bell RC. Diversity and Evolution of Frog Visual Opsins: Spectral Tuning and Adaptation to Distinct Light Environments. Mol Biol Evol 2024; 41:msae049. [PMID: 38573520 PMCID: PMC10994157 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msae049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Revised: 02/07/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Visual systems adapt to different light environments through several avenues including optical changes to the eye and neurological changes in how light signals are processed and interpreted. Spectral sensitivity can evolve via changes to visual pigments housed in the retinal photoreceptors through gene duplication and loss, differential and coexpression, and sequence evolution. Frogs provide an excellent, yet understudied, system for visual evolution research due to their diversity of ecologies (including biphasic aquatic-terrestrial life cycles) that we hypothesize imposed different selective pressures leading to adaptive evolution of the visual system, notably the opsins that encode the protein component of the visual pigments responsible for the first step in visual perception. Here, we analyze the diversity and evolution of visual opsin genes from 93 new eye transcriptomes plus published data for a combined dataset spanning 122 frog species and 34 families. We find that most species express the four visual opsins previously identified in frogs but show evidence for gene loss in two lineages. Further, we present evidence of positive selection in three opsins and shifts in selective pressures associated with differences in habitat and life history, but not activity pattern. We identify substantial novel variation in the visual opsins and, using microspectrophotometry, find highly variable spectral sensitivities, expanding known ranges for all frog visual pigments. Mutations at spectral-tuning sites only partially account for this variation, suggesting that frogs have used tuning pathways that are unique among vertebrates. These results support the hypothesis of adaptive evolution in photoreceptor physiology across the frog tree of life in response to varying environmental and ecological factors and further our growing understanding of vertebrate visual evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan K Schott
- Department of Biology and Centre for Vision Research, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Matthew K Fujita
- Department of Biology, Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA
| | | | | | - Kate N Thomas
- Department of Biology, Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA
- Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Ellis R Loew
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | | | | | - C Guillherme Becker
- Department of Biology and One Health Microbiome Center, Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Diego Cisneros-Heredia
- Laboratorio de Zoología Terrestre, Instituto de Biodiversidad Tropical IBIOTROP, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Simon Clulow
- Centre for Conservation Ecology and Genomics, Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, Australia
| | - Mateo Davila
- Laboratorio de Zoología Terrestre, Instituto de Biodiversidad Tropical IBIOTROP, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Thomas J Firneno
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Denver, Denver, USA
| | - Célio F B Haddad
- Department of Biodiversity and Center of Aquaculture—CAUNESP, I.B., São Paulo State University, Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Sunita Janssenswillen
- Amphibian Evolution Lab, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Jim Labisko
- Natural History Museum, London, UK
- Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
- Island Biodiversity and Conservation Centre, University of Seychelles, Mahé, Seychelles
| | - Simon T Maddock
- Natural History Museum, London, UK
- Island Biodiversity and Conservation Centre, University of Seychelles, Mahé, Seychelles
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
| | - Michael Mahony
- Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle 2308, Australia
| | - Renato A Martins
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Conservação da Fauna, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
| | | | - Nicola J Mitchell
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
| | - Daniel M Portik
- Department of Herpetology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Ivan Prates
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Kim Roelants
- Amphibian Evolution Lab, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Corey Roelke
- Department of Biology, Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA
| | - Elie Tobi
- Gabon Biodiversity Program, Center for Conservation and Sustainability, Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Gamba, Gabon
| | - Maya Woolfolk
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Rayna C Bell
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
- Department of Herpetology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA
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2
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Guo X, Cui Y, Irwin DM, Liu Y. Accelerated evolution of dim-light vision-related arrestin in deep-diving amniotes. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.1069088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Arrestins are key molecules involved in the signaling of light-sensation initiated by visual pigments in retinal photoreceptor cells. Vertebrate photoreceptor cells have two types of arrestins, rod arrestin, which is encoded by SAG and is expressed in both rods and cones, and cone arrestin, encoded by ARR3 in cones. The arrestins can bind to visual pigments, and thus regulate either dim-light vision via interactions with rhodopsin or bright-light vision together with cone visual pigments. After adapting to terrestrial life, several amniote lineages independently went back to the sea and evolved deep-diving habits. Interestingly, the rhodopsins in these species exhibit specialized phenotypes responding to rapidly changing dim-light environments. However, little is known about whether their rod arrestin also experienced adaptive evolution associated with rhodopsin. Here, we collected SAG coding sequences from >250 amniote species, and examined changes in selective pressure experienced by the sequences from deep-diving taxa. Divergent patterns of evolution of SAG were observed in the penguin, pinniped and cetacean clades, suggesting possible co-adaptation with rhodopsin. After verifying pseudogenes, the same analyses were performed for cone arrestin (ARR3) in deep-diving species and only sequences from cetacean species, and not pinnipeds or penguins, have experienced changed selection pressure compared to other species. Taken together, this evidence for changes in selective pressures acting upon arrestin genes strengthens the suggestion that rapid dim-light adaptation for deep-diving amniotes require SAG, but not ARR3.
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Lupše N, Kłodawska M, Truhlářová V, Košátko P, Kašpar V, Bitja Nyom AR, Musilova Z. Developmental changes of opsin gene expression in ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii). Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221855. [DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Fish often change their habitat and trophic preferences during development. Dramatic functional differences between embryos, larvae, juveniles and adults also concern sensory systems, including vision. Here, we focus on the photoreceptors (rod and cone cells) in the retina and their gene expression profiles during development. Using comparative transcriptomics on 63 species, belonging to 23 actinopterygian orders, we report general developmental patterns of opsin expression, mostly suggesting an increased importance of the rod opsin (
RH1
) gene and the long-wavelength-sensitive cone opsin, and a decreasing importance of the shorter wavelength-sensitive cone opsin throughout development. Furthermore, we investigate in detail ontogenetic changes in 14 selected species (from Polypteriformes, Acipenseriformes, Cypriniformes, Aulopiformes and Cichliformes), and we report examples of expanded cone opsin repertoires, cone opsin switches (mostly within
RH2
) and increasing rod : cone ratio as evidenced by the opsin and phototransduction cascade genes. Our findings provide molecular support for developmental stage-specific visual palettes of ray-finned fishes and shifts between, which most likely arose in response to ecological, behavioural and physiological factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nik Lupše
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vinicna 7, 12844 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Monika Kłodawska
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vinicna 7, 12844 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Veronika Truhlářová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vinicna 7, 12844 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Prokop Košátko
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vinicna 7, 12844 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Vojtěch Kašpar
- Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Research Institute of Fish Culture and Hydrobiology, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Zátiší 728/II, 389 25 Vodňany, Czech Republic
| | - Arnold Roger Bitja Nyom
- Department of Management of Fisheries and Aquatic Ecosystems, University of Douala, Douala P.O. Box 7236, Cameroon
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Ngaoundéré, Ngaoundéré P.O. Box 454, Cameroon
| | - Zuzana Musilova
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vinicna 7, 12844 Prague, Czech Republic
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Tian R, Guo H, Jin Z, Zhang F, Zhao J, Seim I. Molecular evolution of vision-related genes may contribute to marsupial photic niche adaptations. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.982073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Vision plays an essential role in the life of many animals. While most mammals are night-active (nocturnal), many have adapted to novel light environments. This includes diurnal (day-active) and crepuscular (twilight-active) species. Here, we used integrative approaches to investigate the molecular evolution of 112 vision-related genes across 19 genomes representing most marsupial orders. We found that four genes (GUCA1B, GUCY2F, RGR, and SWS2) involved in retinal phototransduction likely became functionally redundant in the ancestor of marsupials, a group of largely obligate nocturnal mammals. We also show evidence of rapid evolution and positive selection of bright-light vision genes in the common ancestor of Macropus (kangaroos, wallaroos, and wallabies). Macropus-specific amino acid substitutions in opsin genes (LWS and SWS1), in particular, may be an adaptation for crepuscular vision in this genus via opsin spectral sensitivity tuning. Our study set the stage for functional genetics studies and provides a stepping stone to future research efforts that fully capture the visual repertoire of marsupials.
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5
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Schott RK, Bell RC, Loew ER, Thomas KN, Gower DJ, Streicher JW, Fujita MK. Transcriptomic evidence for visual adaptation during the aquatic to terrestrial metamorphosis in leopard frogs. BMC Biol 2022; 20:138. [PMID: 35761245 PMCID: PMC9238225 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-022-01341-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2021] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Differences in morphology, ecology, and behavior through ontogeny can result in opposing selective pressures at different life stages. Most animals, however, transition through two or more distinct phenotypic phases, which is hypothesized to allow each life stage to adapt more freely to its ecological niche. How this applies to sensory systems, and in particular how sensory systems adapt across life stages at the molecular level, is not well understood. Here, we used whole-eye transcriptomes to investigate differences in gene expression between tadpole and juvenile southern leopard frogs (Lithobates sphenocephalus), which rely on vision in aquatic and terrestrial light environments, respectively. Because visual physiology changes with light levels, we also tested the effect of light and dark exposure. RESULTS We found 42% of genes were differentially expressed in the eyes of tadpoles versus juveniles and 5% for light/dark exposure. Analyses targeting a curated subset of visual genes revealed significant differential expression of genes that control aspects of visual function and development, including spectral sensitivity and lens composition. Finally, microspectrophotometry of photoreceptors confirmed shifts in spectral sensitivity predicted by the expression results, consistent with adaptation to distinct light environments. CONCLUSIONS Overall, we identified extensive expression-level differences in the eyes of tadpoles and juveniles related to observed morphological and physiological changes through metamorphosis and corresponding adaptive shifts to improve vision in the distinct aquatic and terrestrial light environments these frogs inhabit during their life cycle. More broadly, these results suggest that decoupling of gene expression can mediate the opposing selection pressures experienced by organisms with complex life cycles that inhabit different environmental conditions throughout ontogeny.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan K Schott
- Department of Biology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. .,Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA.
| | - Rayna C Bell
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA.,Department of Herpetology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Ellis R Loew
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Kate N Thomas
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - David J Gower
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | | | - Matthew K Fujita
- Department of Biology, Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA
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Schott RK, Perez L, Kwiatkowski MA, Imhoff V, Gumm JM. Evolutionary analyses of visual opsin genes in frogs and toads: Diversity, duplication, and positive selection. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8595. [PMID: 35154658 PMCID: PMC8820127 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2021] [Revised: 01/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Among major vertebrate groups, anurans (frogs and toads) are understudied with regard to their visual systems, and little is known about variation among species that differ in ecology. We sampled North American anurans representing diverse evolutionary and life histories that likely possess visual systems adapted to meet different ecological needs. Using standard molecular techniques, visual opsin genes, which encode the protein component of visual pigments, were obtained from anuran retinas. Additionally, we extracted the visual opsins from publicly available genome and transcriptome assemblies, further increasing the phylogenetic and ecological diversity of our dataset to 33 species in total. We found that anurans consistently express four visual opsin genes (RH1, LWS, SWS1, and SWS2, but not RH2) even though reported photoreceptor complements vary widely among species. The proteins encoded by these genes showed considerable sequence variation among species, including at sites known to shift the spectral sensitivity of visual pigments in other vertebrates and had conserved substitutions that may be related to dim-light adaptation. Using molecular evolutionary analyses of selection (dN/dS) we found significant evidence for positive selection at a subset of sites in the dim-light rod opsin gene RH1 and the long wavelength sensitive cone opsin LWS. The function of sites inferred to be under positive selection are largely unknown, but a few are likely to affect spectral sensitivity and other visual pigment functions based on proximity to previously identified sites in other vertebrates. We also found the first evidence of visual opsin duplication in an amphibian with the duplication of the LWS gene in the African bullfrog, which had distinct LWS copies on the sex chromosomes suggesting the possibility of sex-specific visual adaptation. Taken together, our results indicate that ecological factors, such as habitat and life history, as well as behavior, may be driving changes to anuran visual systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan K. Schott
- Department of BiologyYork UniversityTorontoOntarioCanada
- Department of Vertebrate ZoologyNational Museum of Natural HistorySmithsonian InstitutionWashingtonDistrict of ColumbiaUSA
| | - Leah Perez
- Department of BiologyStephen F. Austin State UniversityNacogdochesTexasUSA
| | | | - Vance Imhoff
- Southern Nevada Fish and Wildlife OfficeUS Fish and Wildlife ServiceLas VegasNevadaUSA
| | - Jennifer M. Gumm
- Department of BiologyStephen F. Austin State UniversityNacogdochesTexasUSA
- Ash Meadows Fish Conservation FacilityUS Fish and Wildlife ServiceAmargosa ValleyNevadaUSA
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7
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Kojima K, Matsutani Y, Yanagawa M, Imamoto Y, Yamano Y, Wada A, Shichida Y, Yamashita T. Evolutionary adaptation of visual pigments in geckos for their photic environment. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:eabj1316. [PMID: 34597144 PMCID: PMC10938493 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abj1316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Vertebrates generally have a single type of rod for scotopic vision and multiple types of cones for photopic vision. Noteworthily, nocturnal geckos transmuted ancestral photoreceptor cells into rods containing not rhodopsin but cone pigments, and, subsequently, diurnal geckos retransmuted these rods into cones containing cone pigments. High sensitivity of scotopic vision is underlain by the rod’s low background noise, which originated from a much lower spontaneous activation rate of rhodopsin than of cone pigments. Here, we revealed that nocturnal gecko cone pigments decreased their spontaneous activation rates to mimic rhodopsin, whereas diurnal gecko cone pigments recovered high rates similar to those of typical cone pigments. We also identified amino acid residues responsible for the alterations of the spontaneous activation rates. Therefore, we concluded that the switch between diurnality and nocturnality in geckos required not only morphological transmutation of photoreceptors but also adjustment of the spontaneous activation rates of visual pigments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keiichi Kojima
- Department of Biophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
- Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
| | - Yuki Matsutani
- Department of Biophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Masataka Yanagawa
- Cellular Informatics Laboratory, RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako 351-0198, Japan
| | - Yasushi Imamoto
- Department of Biophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Yumiko Yamano
- Laboratory of Organic Chemistry for Life Science, Kobe Pharmaceutical University, Kobe 658-8558, Japan
| | - Akimori Wada
- Laboratory of Organic Chemistry for Life Science, Kobe Pharmaceutical University, Kobe 658-8558, Japan
| | - Yoshinori Shichida
- Department of Biophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
- Research Organization for Science and Technology, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577, Japan
| | - Takahiro Yamashita
- Department of Biophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
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8
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Oteiza P, Baldwin MW. Evolution of sensory systems. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2021; 71:52-59. [PMID: 34600187 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2021.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Accepted: 08/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Sensory systems evolve and enable organisms to perceive their sensory Umwelt, the unique set of cues relevant for their survival. The multiple components that comprise sensory systems - the receptors, cells, organs, and dedicated high-order circuits - can vary greatly across species. Sensory receptor gene families can expand and contract across lineages, resulting in enormous sensory diversity. Comparative studies of sensory receptor function have uncovered the molecular basis of receptor properties and identified novel sensory receptor classes and noncanonical sensory strategies. Phylogenetically informed comparisons of sensory systems across multiple species can pinpoint when sensory changes evolve and highlight the role of contingency in sensory system evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Oteiza
- Flow Sensing Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany.
| | - Maude W Baldwin
- Evolution of Sensory Systems Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany.
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9
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Lupše N, Cortesi F, Freese M, Marohn L, Pohlman JD, Wysujack K, Hanel R, Musilova Z. Visual gene expression reveals a cone to rod developmental progression in deep-sea fishes. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:5664-5677. [PMID: 34562090 PMCID: PMC8662630 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Vertebrates use cone cells in the retina for colour vision and rod cells to see in dim light. Many deep-sea fishes have adapted to their environment to have only rod cells in the retina, while both rod and cone genes are still preserved in their genomes. As deep-sea fish larvae start their lives in the shallow, and only later submerge to the depth, they have to cope with diverse environmental conditions during ontogeny. Using a comparative transcriptomic approach in 20 deep-sea fish species from eight teleost orders, we report on a developmental cone-to-rod switch. While adults mostly rely on rod opsin (RH1) for vision in dim light, larvae almost exclusively express middle-wavelength-sensitive ("green") cone opsins (RH2) in their retinas. The phototransduction cascade genes follow a similar ontogenetic pattern of cone- followed by rod-specific gene expression in most species, except for the pearleye and sabretooth (Aulopiformes), in which the cone cascade remains dominant throughout development. By inspecting the whole genomes of five deep-sea species (four of them sequenced within this study: Idiacanthus fasciola, Chauliodus sloani; Stomiiformes; Coccorella atlantica, and Scopelarchus michaelsarsi; Aulopiformes), we found that deep-sea fish possess one or two copies of the rod RH1 opsin gene, and up to seven copies of the cone RH2 opsin genes in their genomes, while other cone opsin classes have been mostly lost. Our findings hence provide molecular evidence for a limited opsin gene repertoire and a conserved vertebrate pattern whereby cone photoreceptors develop first and rod photoreceptors are added only at later developmental stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nik Lupše
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vinicna 7, 12844 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Fabio Cortesi
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072 QLD, Australia
| | - Marko Freese
- Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Herwigstraße 31, 27572, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - Lasse Marohn
- Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Herwigstraße 31, 27572, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - Jan-Dag Pohlman
- Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Herwigstraße 31, 27572, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - Klaus Wysujack
- Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Herwigstraße 31, 27572, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - Reinhold Hanel
- Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Herwigstraße 31, 27572, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - Zuzana Musilova
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vinicna 7, 12844 Prague, Czech Republic
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10
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Smith MA, Waugh DA, McBurney DL, George JC, Suydam RS, Thewissen JGM, Crish SD. A comparative analysis of cone photoreceptor morphology in bowhead and beluga whales. J Comp Neurol 2020; 529:2376-2390. [PMID: 33377221 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Revised: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 12/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
The cetacean visual system is a product of selection pressures favoring underwater vision, yet relatively little is known about it across taxa. Previous studies report several mutations in the opsin genetic sequence in cetaceans, suggesting the evolutionary complete or partial loss of retinal cone photoreceptor function in mysticete and odontocete lineages, respectively. Despite this, limited anatomical evidence suggests cone structures are partially maintained but with absent outer and inner segments in the bowhead retina. The functional consequence and anatomical distributions associated with these unique cone morphologies remain unclear. The current study further investigates the morphology and distribution of cone photoreceptors in the bowhead whale and beluga retina and evaluates the potential functional capacity of these cells' alternative to photoreception. Refined histological and advanced microscopic techniques revealed two additional cone morphologies in the bowhead and beluga retina that have not been previously described. Two proteins involved in magnetosensation were present in these cone structures suggesting the possibility for an alternative functional role in responding to changes in geomagnetic fields. These findings highlight a revised understanding of the unique evolution of cone and gross retinal anatomy in cetaceans, and provide prefatory evidence of potential functional reassignment of these cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A Smith
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, USA.,Rebecca D. Considine Research Institute, Akron Children's Hospital, Akron, Ohio, USA
| | - David A Waugh
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, USA
| | - Denise L McBurney
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, USA
| | - John C George
- Department of Wildlife Management, North Slope Borough, Utqiagvik, Alaska, USA
| | - Robert S Suydam
- Department of Wildlife Management, North Slope Borough, Utqiagvik, Alaska, USA
| | - Johannes G M Thewissen
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, USA
| | - Samuel D Crish
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio, USA
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11
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Gemmell NJ, Rutherford K, Prost S, Tollis M, Winter D, Macey JR, Adelson DL, Suh A, Bertozzi T, Grau JH, Organ C, Gardner PP, Muffato M, Patricio M, Billis K, Martin FJ, Flicek P, Petersen B, Kang L, Michalak P, Buckley TR, Wilson M, Cheng Y, Miller H, Schott RK, Jordan MD, Newcomb RD, Arroyo JI, Valenzuela N, Hore TA, Renart J, Peona V, Peart CR, Warmuth VM, Zeng L, Kortschak RD, Raison JM, Zapata VV, Wu Z, Santesmasses D, Mariotti M, Guigó R, Rupp SM, Twort VG, Dussex N, Taylor H, Abe H, Bond DM, Paterson JM, Mulcahy DG, Gonzalez VL, Barbieri CG, DeMeo DP, Pabinger S, Van Stijn T, Clarke S, Ryder O, Edwards SV, Salzberg SL, Anderson L, Nelson N, Stone C. The tuatara genome reveals ancient features of amniote evolution. Nature 2020; 584:403-409. [PMID: 32760000 PMCID: PMC7116210 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2561-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2019] [Accepted: 06/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus)-the only living member of the reptilian order Rhynchocephalia (Sphenodontia), once widespread across Gondwana1,2-is an iconic species that is endemic to New Zealand2,3. A key link to the now-extinct stem reptiles (from which dinosaurs, modern reptiles, birds and mammals evolved), the tuatara provides key insights into the ancestral amniotes2,4. Here we analyse the genome of the tuatara, which-at approximately 5 Gb-is among the largest of the vertebrate genomes yet assembled. Our analyses of this genome, along with comparisons with other vertebrate genomes, reinforce the uniqueness of the tuatara. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that the tuatara lineage diverged from that of snakes and lizards around 250 million years ago. This lineage also shows moderate rates of molecular evolution, with instances of punctuated evolution. Our genome sequence analysis identifies expansions of proteins, non-protein-coding RNA families and repeat elements, the latter of which show an amalgam of reptilian and mammalian features. The sequencing of the tuatara genome provides a valuable resource for deep comparative analyses of tetrapods, as well as for tuatara biology and conservation. Our study also provides important insights into both the technical challenges and the cultural obligations that are associated with genome sequencing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neil J Gemmell
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
| | - Kim Rutherford
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Stefan Prost
- LOEWE-Center for Translational Biodiversity Genomics, Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
- South African National Biodiversity Institute, National Zoological Garden, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Marc Tollis
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
- School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - David Winter
- School of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
| | | | - David L Adelson
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Alexander Suh
- Department of Ecology and Genetics - Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC), Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Organismal Biology - Systematic Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC), Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Terry Bertozzi
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Evolutionary Biology Unit, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - José H Grau
- Amedes Genetics, Amedes Medizinische Dienstleistungen, Berlin, Germany
- Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Chris Organ
- Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA
| | - Paul P Gardner
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Matthieu Muffato
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UK
| | - Mateus Patricio
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UK
| | - Konstantinos Billis
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UK
| | - Fergal J Martin
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UK
| | - Paul Flicek
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UK
| | - Bent Petersen
- Section for Evolutionary Genomics, The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Lin Kang
- Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Pawel Michalak
- Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Center for One Health Research, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Thomas R Buckley
- Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, Auckland, New Zealand
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Melissa Wilson
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Yuanyuan Cheng
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | | | - Ryan K Schott
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Melissa D Jordan
- The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Richard D Newcomb
- The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - José Ignacio Arroyo
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Nicole Valenzuela
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
| | - Tim A Hore
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Jaime Renart
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas 'Alberto Sols' CSIC-UAM, Madrid, Spain
| | - Valentina Peona
- Department of Ecology and Genetics - Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC), Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Organismal Biology - Systematic Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC), Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Claire R Peart
- Department of Ecology and Genetics - Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC), Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Division of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Vera M Warmuth
- Department of Ecology and Genetics - Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC), Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Division of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Lu Zeng
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - R Daniel Kortschak
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Joy M Raison
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | | | - Zhiqiang Wu
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
| | - Didac Santesmasses
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marco Mariotti
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Roderic Guigó
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Shawn M Rupp
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Victoria G Twort
- Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, Auckland, New Zealand
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Nicolas Dussex
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Helen Taylor
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Hideaki Abe
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Donna M Bond
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - James M Paterson
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Daniel G Mulcahy
- Global Genome Initiative, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Vanessa L Gonzalez
- Global Genome Initiative, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | | | - Stephan Pabinger
- Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), Center for Health and Bioresources, Molecular Diagnostics, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Shannon Clarke
- AgResearch, Invermay Agricultural Centre, Mosgiel, New Zealand
| | - Oliver Ryder
- San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, Escondido, CA, USA
| | - Scott V Edwards
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Steven L Salzberg
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Lindsay Anderson
- School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Nicola Nelson
- School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Clive Stone
- Ngatiwai Trust Board, Whangarei, New Zealand
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12
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Baldwin MW, Ko MC. Functional evolution of vertebrate sensory receptors. Horm Behav 2020; 124:104771. [PMID: 32437717 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2020] [Revised: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Sensory receptors enable animals to perceive their external world, and functional properties of receptors evolve to detect the specific cues relevant for an organism's survival. Changes in sensory receptor function or tuning can directly impact an organism's behavior. Functional tests of receptors from multiple species and the generation of chimeric receptors between orthologs with different properties allow for the dissection of the molecular basis of receptor function and identification of the key residues that impart functional changes in different species. Knowledge of these functionally important sites facilitates investigation into questions regarding the role of epistasis and the extent of convergence, as well as the timing of sensory shifts relative to other phenotypic changes. However, as receptors can also play roles in non-sensory tissues, and receptor responses can be modulated by numerous other factors including varying expression levels, alternative splicing, and morphological features of the sensory cell, behavioral validation can be instrumental in confirming that responses observed in heterologous systems play a sensory role. Expression profiling of sensory cells and comparative genomics approaches can shed light on cell-type specific modifications and identify other proteins that may affect receptor function and can provide insight into the correlated evolution of complex suites of traits. Here we review the evolutionary history and diversity of functional responses of the major classes of sensory receptors in vertebrates, including opsins, chemosensory receptors, and ion channels involved in temperature-sensing, mechanosensation and electroreception.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Meng-Ching Ko
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
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13
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Govardovskii V, Rotov A, Astakhova L, Nikolaeva D, Firsov M. Visual cells and visual pigments of the river lamprey revisited. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2020; 206:71-84. [PMID: 31942647 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-019-01395-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2019] [Revised: 12/04/2019] [Accepted: 12/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Retinas of the river lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis were studied by microspectrophotometry, electroretinography and single-photoreceptor electrophysiology to reconcile the apparently contradictory conclusions on the nature of lamprey photoreceptor cells drawn in the early work by Govardovskii and Lychakov (J Comp Physiology A 154:279-286, 1984) and in recent studies. In agreement with recent works, we confirmed former identification of short photoreceptors as rods and of long photoreceptors as cones. In line with the results of 1984, we show that within a certain range of light intensities the lamprey retina exhibits "color discrimination". We found that the overlap of working intensity ranges of rods and cones is not a unique feature of lamprey short receptors, and suggest that rod-cone (possibly color) vision may be common among vertebrates. We show that the decay of meta-intermediates in lamprey cones occurs almost 100 times faster than in typical rod metarhodopsins. Rate of decay of metarhodopsins of lamprey rods take an intermediate position between typical rods and cones. This makes lamprey rhodopsin similar to transmuted cone visual pigment in "rods" of nocturnal geckos. We argue that defining various types of photoreceptors as simply "rods" and "cones" may be functionally correct, but neglects their genetic, biochemical and morphological features and evolutionary history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Govardovskii
- I.M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 44 Thorez Prospect, 194223, St. Petersburg, Russia.
| | - Alexander Rotov
- I.M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 44 Thorez Prospect, 194223, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Luba Astakhova
- I.M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 44 Thorez Prospect, 194223, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Darya Nikolaeva
- I.M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 44 Thorez Prospect, 194223, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Michael Firsov
- I.M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 44 Thorez Prospect, 194223, St. Petersburg, Russia
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14
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Pinto BJ, Nielsen SV, Gamble T. Transcriptomic data support a nocturnal bottleneck in the ancestor of gecko lizards. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2019; 141:106639. [PMID: 31586687 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2019] [Revised: 09/30/2019] [Accepted: 10/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Gecko lizards are a species-rich clade of primarily-nocturnal squamate reptiles. In geckos, adaptations to nocturnality have dramatically reshaped the eye. Perhaps the most notable change is the loss of rod cells in the retina and subsequent "transmutation" of cones into a rod-like morphology and physiology. While many studies have noted the absence of some rod-specific genes, such as the visual pigment Rhodopsin (RH1), these studies have focused on just a handful of species that are nested deep in the gecko phylogeny. Thus, it is not clear whether these changes arose through convergence, are homologous and ubiquitous across geckos, or restricted to a subset of species. Here, we used de novo eye transcriptomes from five gecko species, and genomes from two additional gecko species, representing the breadth of extant gecko diversity (i.e. 4 of the 7 gecko families, spanning the deepest divergence of crown Gekkota), to show that geckos lost expression of almost the entire suite of necessary rod-cell phototransduction genes in the eye, distinct from all other squamate reptiles. Geckos are the first vertebrate group to have lost their complete rod-cell expression pathway, not just the visual pigment. In addition, all sampled species have also lost expression of the cone-opsin SWS2 visual pigment. These results strongly suggest a single loss of rod cells and subsequent cone-to-rod transmutation that occurred prior to the diversification of extant geckos.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brendan J Pinto
- Department of Biological Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
| | - Stuart V Nielsen
- Department of Biological Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA; Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
| | - Tony Gamble
- Department of Biological Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, WI, USA; Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, USA.
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