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Hagen JFD, Roberts NS, Johnston RJ. The evolutionary history and spectral tuning of vertebrate visual opsins. Dev Biol 2023; 493:40-66. [PMID: 36370769 PMCID: PMC9729497 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2022.10.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Revised: 10/27/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Many animals depend on the sense of vision for survival. In eumetazoans, vision requires specialized, light-sensitive cells called photoreceptors. Light reaches the photoreceptors and triggers the excitation of light-detecting proteins called opsins. Here, we describe the story of visual opsin evolution from the ancestral bilaterian to the extant vertebrate lineages. We explain the mechanisms determining color vision of extant vertebrates, focusing on opsin gene losses, duplications, and the expression regulation of vertebrate opsins. We describe the sequence variation both within and between species that has tweaked the sensitivities of opsin proteins towards different wavelengths of light. We provide an extensive resource of wavelength sensitivities and mutations that have diverged light sensitivity in many vertebrate species and predict how these mutations were accumulated in each lineage based on parsimony. We suggest possible natural and sexual selection mechanisms underlying these spectral differences. Understanding how molecular changes allow for functional adaptation of animals to different environments is a major goal in the field, and therefore identifying mutations affecting vision and their relationship to photic selection pressures is imperative. The goal of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of our current understanding of opsin evolution in vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna F D Hagen
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Natalie S Roberts
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Robert J Johnston
- Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA.
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2
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Gower DJ, Fleming JF, Pisani D, Vonk FJ, Kerkkamp HMI, Peichl L, Meimann S, Casewell NR, Henkel CV, Richardson MK, Sanders KL, Simões BF. Eye-Transcriptome and Genome-Wide Sequencing for Scolecophidia: Implications for Inferring the Visual System of the Ancestral Snake. Genome Biol Evol 2021; 13:6430116. [PMID: 34791190 PMCID: PMC8643396 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evab253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Molecular genetic data have recently been incorporated in attempts to reconstruct the ecology of the ancestral snake, though this has been limited by a paucity of data for one of the two main extant snake taxa, the highly fossorial Scolecophidia. Here we present and analyze vision genes from the first eye-transcriptomic and genome-wide data for Scolecophidia, for Anilios bicolor, and A. bituberculatus, respectively. We also present immunohistochemistry data for retinal anatomy and visual opsin-gene expression in Anilios. Analyzed in the context of 19 lepidosaurian genomes and 12 eye transcriptomes, the new genome-wide and transcriptomic data provide evidence for a much more reduced visual system in Anilios than in non-scolecophidian (=alethinophidian) snakes and in lizards. In Anilios, there is no evidence of the presence of 7 of the 12 genes associated with alethinophidian photopic (cone) phototransduction. This indicates extensive gene loss and many of these candidate gene losses occur also in highly fossorial mammals with reduced vision. Although recent phylogenetic studies have found evidence for scolecophidian paraphyly, the loss in Anilios of visual genes that are present in alethinophidians implies that the ancestral snake had a better-developed visual system than is known for any extant scolecophidian.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Gower
- Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
| | - James F Fleming
- School of Life Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.,Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, Yamagata, Japan
| | - Davide Pisani
- School of Life Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.,School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Freek J Vonk
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Leo Peichl
- Institute of Cellular and Molecular Anatomy, Dr. Senckenberg Anatomy, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,Institute of Clinical Neuroanatomy, Dr. Senckenberg Anatomy, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Sonja Meimann
- Institute of Cellular and Molecular Anatomy, Dr. Senckenberg Anatomy, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Nicholas R Casewell
- Centre for Snakebite Research & Interventions, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Christiaan V Henkel
- Institute of Biology, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | | | - Kate L Sanders
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Bruno F Simões
- School of Life Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.,School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.,School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom
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3
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Warrington RE, Davies WIL, Hemmi JM, Hart NS, Potter IC, Collin SP, Hunt DM. Visual opsin expression and morphological characterization of retinal photoreceptors in the pouched lamprey (Geotria australis, Gray). J Comp Neurol 2020; 529:2265-2282. [PMID: 33336375 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2020] [Revised: 12/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Lampreys are extant members of the agnathan (jawless) vertebrates that diverged ~500 million years ago, during a critical stage of vertebrate evolution when image-forming eyes first emerged. Among lamprey species assessed thus far, the retina of the southern hemisphere pouched lamprey, Geotria australis, is unique, in that it possesses morphologically distinct photoreceptors and expresses five visual photopigments. This study focused on determining the number of different photoreceptors present in the retina of G. australis and whether each cell type expresses a single opsin class. Five photoreceptor subtypes were identified based on ultrastructure and differential expression of one of each of the five different visual opsin classes (lws, sws1, sws2, rh1, and rh2) known to be expressed in the retina. This suggests, therefore, that the retina of G. australis possesses five spectrally and morphologically distinct photoreceptors, with the potential for complex color vision. Each photoreceptor subtype was shown to have a specific spatial distribution in the retina, which is potentially associated with changes in spectral radiance across different lines of sight. These results suggest that there have been strong selection pressures for G. australis to maintain broad spectral sensitivity for the brightly lit surface waters that this species inhabits during its marine phase. These findings provide important insights into the functional anatomy of the early vertebrate retina and the selection pressures that may have led to the evolution of complex color vision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachael E Warrington
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.,School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.,Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Wayne I L Davies
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.,Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.,Umeå Centre for Molecular Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.,Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.,School of Life Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jan M Hemmi
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.,Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Nathan S Hart
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.,Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.,Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ian C Potter
- Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Shaun P Collin
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.,Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.,Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.,School of Life Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - David M Hunt
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.,Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
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Hart NS, Lamb TD, Patel HR, Chuah A, Natoli RC, Hudson NJ, Cutmore SC, Davies WIL, Collin SP, Hunt DM. Visual Opsin Diversity in Sharks and Rays. Mol Biol Evol 2020; 37:811-827. [PMID: 31770430 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The diversity of color vision systems found in extant vertebrates suggests that different evolutionary selection pressures have driven specializations in photoreceptor complement and visual pigment spectral tuning appropriate for an animal's behavior, habitat, and life history. Aquatic vertebrates in particular show high variability in chromatic vision and have become important models for understanding the role of color vision in prey detection, predator avoidance, and social interactions. In this study, we examined the capacity for chromatic vision in elasmobranch fishes, a group that have received relatively little attention to date. We used microspectrophotometry to measure the spectral absorbance of the visual pigments in the outer segments of individual photoreceptors from several ray and shark species, and we sequenced the opsin mRNAs obtained from the retinas of the same species, as well as from additional elasmobranch species. We reveal the phylogenetically widespread occurrence of dichromatic color vision in rays based on two cone opsins, RH2 and LWS. We also confirm that all shark species studied to date appear to be cone monochromats but report that in different species the single cone opsin may be of either the LWS or the RH2 class. From this, we infer that cone monochromacy in sharks has evolved independently on multiple occasions. Together with earlier discoveries in secondarily aquatic marine mammals, this suggests that cone-based color vision may be of little use for large marine predators, such as sharks, pinnipeds, and cetaceans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan S Hart
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia
| | - Trevor D Lamb
- Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Hardip R Patel
- Department of Genome Sciences, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Aaron Chuah
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Disease, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Riccardo C Natoli
- Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.,ANU Medical School, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Nicholas J Hudson
- School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Scott C Cutmore
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Wayne I L Davies
- Umeå Centre for Molecular Medicine (UCMM), Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Shaun P Collin
- School of Life Sciences, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
| | - David M Hunt
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.,Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Lions Eye Institute, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
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5
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Hart NS. Vision in sharks and rays: Opsin diversity and colour vision. Semin Cell Dev Biol 2020; 106:12-9. [PMID: 32331993 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2020.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2020] [Revised: 03/31/2020] [Accepted: 03/31/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
The visual sense of elasmobranch fishes is poorly studied compared to their bony cousins, the teleosts. Nevertheless, the elasmobranch eye features numerous specialisations that have no doubt facilitated the diversification and evolutionary success of this fascinating taxon. In this review, I highlight recent discoveries on the nature and phylogenetic distribution of visual pigments in sharks and rays. Whereas most rays appear to be cone dichromats, all sharks studied to date are cone monochromats and, as a group, have likely abandoned colour vision on multiple occasions. This situation in sharks mirrors that seen in other large marine predators, the pinnipeds and cetaceans, which leads us to reassess the costs and benefits of multiple cone pigments and wavelength discrimination in the marine environment.
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6
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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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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7
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Abstract
The lamprey is an important non-model vertebrate because it is an agnathan or jawless vertebrate and belongs to the superclass cyclostomata, a group that split off from the rest of the vertebrates 500 million years ago. Investigation of the lamprey retina may therefore reveal attributes of visual function that were characteristic of even the most primitive vertebrates. The rod and cone photoreceptors are a striking example, because the biochemistry and physiology of phototransduction is remarkably similar between lamprey and the rest of the vertebrates, including mammals. The fundamental mechanism of light sensation seems therefore to have emerged very early in the evolution of vertebrates in the late Cambrian. Some other characteristics of the retina are also similar and may be very old, but other features such as the morphology of ganglion cells are rather different in lamprey and other vertebrates. Even these differences may provide new insight into the various mechanisms vertebrates use for visual detection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gordon L Fain
- Department of Ophthalmology, Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095-7000, United States; Department of Ophthalmology, Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095-7000,United States.
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8
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9
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Liu Y, Cui Y, Chi H, Xia Y, Liu H, Rossiter SJ, Zhang S. Scotopic rod vision in tetrapods arose from multiple early adaptive shifts in the rate of retinal release. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:12627-8. [PMID: 31182589 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1900481116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The ability of vertebrates to occupy diverse niches has been linked to the spectral properties of rhodopsin, conferring rod-based vision in low-light conditions. More recent insights have come from nonspectral kinetics, including the retinal release rate of the active state of rhodopsin, a key aspect of scotopic vision that shows strong associations with light environments in diverse taxa. We examined the retinal release rates in resurrected proteins across early vertebrates and show that the earliest forms were characterized by much faster rates of retinal release than more recent ancestors. We also show that scotopic vision at the origin of tetrapods is a derived state that arose via at least 4 major shifts in retinal release rate. Our results suggest that early rhodopsin had a function intermediate to that of modern rod and cone pigments and that its well-developed adaptation to low light is a relatively recent innovation since the origin of tetrapods.
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10
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Kim JW, Yang HJ, Oel AP, Brooks MJ, Jia L, Plachetzki DC, Li W, Allison WT, Swaroop A. Recruitment of Rod Photoreceptors from Short-Wavelength-Sensitive Cones during the Evolution of Nocturnal Vision in Mammals. Dev Cell 2017; 37:520-32. [PMID: 27326930 DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2016.05.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2014] [Revised: 04/16/2016] [Accepted: 05/24/2016] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Vertebrate ancestors had only cone-like photoreceptors. The duplex retina evolved in jawless vertebrates with the advent of highly photosensitive rod-like photoreceptors. Despite cones being the arbiters of high-resolution color vision, rods emerged as the dominant photoreceptor in mammals during a nocturnal phase early in their evolution. We investigated the evolutionary and developmental origins of rods in two divergent vertebrate retinas. In mice, we discovered genetic and epigenetic vestiges of short-wavelength cones in developing rods, and cell-lineage tracing validated the genesis of rods from S cones. Curiously, rods did not derive from S cones in zebrafish. Our study illuminates several questions regarding the evolution of duplex retina and supports the hypothesis that, in mammals, the S-cone lineage was recruited via the Maf-family transcription factor NRL to augment rod photoreceptors. We propose that this developmental mechanism allowed the adaptive exploitation of scotopic niches during the nocturnal bottleneck early in mammalian evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jung-Woong Kim
- Neurobiology-Neurodegeneration and Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA; Department of Life Science, College of Natural Sciences, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 156-756, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyun-Jin Yang
- Neurobiology-Neurodegeneration and Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Adam Phillip Oel
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
| | - Matthew John Brooks
- Neurobiology-Neurodegeneration and Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Li Jia
- Retinal Neurophysiology Section, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - David Charles Plachetzki
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - Wei Li
- Retinal Neurophysiology Section, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - William Ted Allison
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada.
| | - Anand Swaroop
- Neurobiology-Neurodegeneration and Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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11
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Morshedian A, Fain GL. Light adaptation and the evolution of vertebrate photoreceptors. J Physiol 2017; 595:4947-4960. [PMID: 28488783 DOI: 10.1113/jp274211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2017] [Accepted: 05/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
KEY POINTS Lamprey are cyclostomes, a group of vertebrates that diverged from lines leading to jawed vertebrates (including mammals) in the late Cambrian, 500 million years ago. It may therefore be possible to infer properties of photoreceptors in early vertebrate progenitors by comparing lamprey to other vertebrates. We show that lamprey rods and cones respond to light much like rods and cones in amphibians and mammals. They operate over a similar range of light intensities and adapt to backgrounds and bleaches nearly identically. These correspondences are pervasive and detailed; they argue for the presence of rods and cones very early in the evolution of vertebrates with properties much like those of rods and cones in existing vertebrate species. ABSTRACT The earliest vertebrates were agnathans - fish-like organisms without jaws, which first appeared near the end of the Cambrian radiation. One group of agnathans became cyclostomes, which include lamprey and hagfish. Other agnathans gave rise to jawed vertebrates or gnathostomes, the group including all other existing vertebrate species. Because cyclostomes diverged from other vertebrates 500 million years ago, it may be possible to infer some of the properties of the retina of early vertebrate progenitors by comparing lamprey to other vertebrates. We have previously shown that rods and cones in lamprey respond to light much like photoreceptors in other vertebrates and have a similar sensitivity. We now show that these affinities are even closer. Both rods and cones adapt to background light and to bleaches in a manner almost identical to other vertebrate photoreceptors. The operating range in darkness is nearly the same in lamprey and in amphibian or mammalian rods and cones; moreover background light shifts response-intensity curves downward and to the right over a similar range of ambient intensities. Rods show increment saturation at about the same intensity as mammalian rods, and cones never saturate. Bleaches decrease sensitivity in part by loss of quantum catch and in part by opsin activation of transduction. These correspondences are so numerous and pervasive that they are unlikely to result from convergent evolution but argue instead that early vertebrate progenitors of both cyclostomes and mammals had photoreceptors much like our own.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ala Morshedian
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-7239, USA
| | - Gordon L Fain
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-7239, USA.,Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-7000, USA
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12
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Lamb TD, Hunt DM. Evolution of the vertebrate phototransduction cascade activation steps. Dev Biol 2017; 431:77-92. [PMID: 28347645 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2017.03.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2017] [Revised: 02/28/2017] [Accepted: 03/20/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
We examine the molecular phylogeny of the proteins underlying the activation steps of vertebrate phototransduction, for both agnathan and jawed vertebrate taxa. We expand the number of taxa analysed and we update the alignment and tree building methodology from a previous analysis. For each of the four primary components (the G-protein transducin alpha subunit, GαT, the cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase, PDE6, and the alpha and beta subunits of the cGMP-gated ion channel, CNGC), the phylogenies appear consistent with expansion from an ancestral proto-vertebrate cascade during two rounds of whole-genome duplication followed by divergence of the agnathan and jawed vertebrate lineages. In each case, we consider possible scenarios for the underlying gene duplications and losses, and we apply relevant constraints to the tree construction. From tests of the topology of the resulting trees, we obtain a scenario for the expansion of each component during 2R that accurately fits the observations. Similar analysis of the visual opsins indicates that the only expansion to have occurred during 2R was the formation of Rh1 and Rh2. Finally, we propose a hypothetical scenario for the conversion of an ancestral chordate cascade into the proto-vertebrate phototransduction cascade, prior to whole-genome duplication. Together, our models provide a plausible account for the origin and expansion of the vertebrate phototransduction cascade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trevor D Lamb
- Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, ACT 2600, Australia.
| | - David M Hunt
- The Lions Eye Institute, The University of Western Australia, WA 6009, Australia; School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, WA 6009, Australia
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13
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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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14
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Abstract
We applied high-throughput sequencing to eye tissue from several species of basal vertebrates (a hagfish, two species of lamprey, and five species of gnathostome fish), and we analyzed the mRNA sequences for the proteins underlying activation of the phototransduction cascade. The molecular phylogenies that we constructed from these sequences are consistent with the 2R WGD model of two rounds of whole genome duplication. Our analysis suggests that agnathans retain an additional representative (that has been lost in gnathostomes) in each of the gene families we studied; the evidence is strong for the G-protein α subunit (GNAT) and the cGMP phosphodiesterase (PDE6), and indicative for the cyclic nucleotide-gated channels (CNGA and CNGB). Two of the species (the hagfish Eptatretus cirrhatus and the lamprey Mordacia mordax) possess only a single class of photoreceptor, simplifying deductions about the composition of cascade protein isoforms utilized in their photoreceptors. For the other lamprey, Geotria australis, analysis of the ratios of transcript levels in downstream and upstream migrant animals permits tentative conclusions to be drawn about the isoforms used in four of the five spectral classes of photoreceptor. Overall, our results suggest that agnathan rod-like photoreceptors utilize the same GNAT1 as gnathostomes, together with a homodimeric PDE6 that may be agnathan-specific, whereas agnathan cone-like photoreceptors utilize a GNAT that may be agnathan-specific, together with the same PDE6C as gnathostomes. These findings help elucidate the evolution of the vertebrate phototransduction cascade from an ancestral chordate phototransduction cascade that existed prior to the vertebrate radiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trevor D Lamb
- Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Hardip Patel
- Genome Discovery Unit, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia Department of Genome Biology, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Aaron Chuah
- Genome Discovery Unit, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Riccardo C Natoli
- Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia ANU Medical School, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Wayne I L Davies
- School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Nathan S Hart
- School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Shaun P Collin
- School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - David M Hunt
- School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
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15
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Abstract
Vertebrate rod photoreceptors are thought to have evolved from cone photoreceptors only after the divergence of the jawed and jawless fishes, but this idea is questioned by new evidence that the short 'cones' of jawless sea lampreys are physiologically equivalent to rods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric J Warrant
- Department Biology, University of Lund, Sölvegatan 35, S-22362 Lund, Sweden.
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16
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Abstract
Vertebrates acquired dim-light vision when an ancestral cone evolved into the rod photoreceptor at an unknown stage preceding the last common ancestor of extant jawed vertebrates (∼420 million years ago Ma). The jawless lampreys provide a unique opportunity to constrain the timing of this advance, as their line diverged ∼505 Ma and later displayed high-morphological stability. We recorded with patch electrodes the inner segment photovoltages and with suction electrodes the outer segment photocurrents of Lampetra fluviatilis retinal photoreceptors. Several key functional features of jawed vertebrate rods are present in their phylogenetically homologous photoreceptors in lamprey: crucially, the efficient amplification of the effect of single photons, measured by multiple parameters, and the flow of rod signals into cones. These results make convergent evolution in the jawless and jawed vertebrate lines unlikely and indicate an early origin of rods, implying strong selective pressure toward dim-light vision in Cambrian ecosystems. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07166.001 The eyes of humans and many other animals with backbones contain two different types of cells that can detect light, which are known as rod and cone cells. Rod cells are much more sensitive to light than cone cells. The rods allow us to see in dim light by amplifying weak light signals and transmitting information to other cells, including the cones themselves. It is thought that the rod cell evolved from the cone cell in the common ancestors of mammals, fish, and other animals with backbones and jaws at least 420 million years ago. Lampreys are jawless fish that diverged from the ancestors of jawed animals around 505 million years ago, in the middle of a period of great evolutionary innovation called the Cambrian. They have changed relatively little since that time so they provide a snapshot of what our ancestors' eyes might have been like back then. Like the rod and cone cells of jawed animals, the eyes of adult lampreys also have two types of photoreceptors. However, it was not clear whether the lamprey photoreceptor cells work in a similar way to rod and cone cells. Asteriti et al. collected lampreys in Sweden and France during their breeding season and used patch and suction electrodes to measure the activity of their photoreceptor cells. The experiments show that the short photoreceptor cells are more sensitive to light than the long photoreceptors and are able to amplify weak light signals. Also, the short photoreceptors send signals to the long photoreceptors in a similar way to how rod cells send information to cone cells. The similarities between lamprey photoreceptor cells and those of jawed animals support the idea that they have a common origin in evolutionary history. Therefore, Asteriti et al. conclude that the ability to see in low light evolved before these groups of animals diverged about 505 million years ago. The picture that emerges is one in which our remote ancestors inhabiting the Cambrian seas already possessed dim-light vision. This would have allowed them to colonize deep waters or to move at twilight, an adaptation suggestive of intense competition or predation from other life forms. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07166.002
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Asteriti
- Department of Translational Research, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Sten Grillner
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Lorenzo Cangiano
- Department of Translational Research, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
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18
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19
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Goremykin VV, Nikiforova SV, Bininda-Emonds ORP. Automated Removal of Noisy Data in Phylogenomic Analyses. J Mol Evol 2010; 71:319-31. [DOI: 10.1007/s00239-010-9398-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2010] [Accepted: 10/06/2010] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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20
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Abstract
Photoreceptors in metazoans can be grouped into two classes, with their photoreceptive membrane derived either from cilia or microvilli. Both classes use some form of the visual pigment protein opsin, which together with 11-cis retinaldehyde absorbs light and activates a G-protein cascade, resulting in the opening or closing of ion channels. Considerable attention has recently been given to the molecular evolution of the opsins and other photoreceptor proteins; much is also known about transduction in the various photoreceptor types. Here we combine this knowledge in an attempt to understand why certain photoreceptors might have conferred particular selective advantages during evolution. We suggest that microvillar photoreceptors became predominant in most invertebrate species because of their single-photon sensitivity, high temporal resolution, and large dynamic range, and that rods and a duplex retina provided primitive chordates and vertebrates with similar sensitivity and dynamic range, but with a smaller expenditure of ATP.
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21
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Fischer AHL, Arboleda E, Egger B, Hilbrant M, McGregor AP, Cole AG, Daley AC. ZOONET: perspectives on the evolution of animal form. Meeting report. J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol 2009; 312:679-85. [PMID: 19405098 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.21294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
What drives evolution? This was one of the main questions raised at the final ZOONET meeting in Budapest, Hungary, in November 2008. The meeting marked the conclusion of ZOONET, an EU-funded Marie-Curie Research Training Network comprising nine research groups from all over Europe (Max Telford, University College London; Michael Akam, University of Cambridge; Detlev Arendt, EMBL Heidelberg; Maria Ina Arnone, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Napoli; Michalis Averof, IMBB Heraklion; Graham Budd, Uppsala University; Richard Copley, University of Oxford; Wim Damen, University of Cologne; Ernst Wimmer, University of Göttingen). ZOONET meetings and practical courses held during the past four years provided researchers from diverse backgrounds--bioinformatics, phylogenetics, embryology, palaeontology, and developmental and molecular biology--the opportunity to discuss their work under a common umbrella of evolutionary developmental biology (Evo Devo). The Budapest meeting emphasized in-depth discussions of the key concepts defining Evo Devo, and bringing together ZOONET researchers with external speakers who were invited to present their views on the evolution of animal form. The discussion sessions addressed four main topics: the driving forces of evolution, segmentation, fossils and phylogeny, and the future of Evo Devo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antje H L Fischer
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Developmental Biology Unit, Meyerhofstrasse 1, Heidelberg, Germany
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22
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Abstract
Meeting the challenge of sampling an ancient aquatic landscape by the early vertebrates was crucial to their survival and would establish a retinal bauplan to be used by all subsequent vertebrate descendents. Image-forming eyes were under tremendous selection pressure and the ability to identify suitable prey and detect potential predators was thought to be one of the major drivers of speciation in the Early Cambrian. Based on the fossil record, we know that hagfishes, lampreys, holocephalans, elasmobranchs and lungfishes occupy critical stages in vertebrate evolution, having remained relatively unchanged over hundreds of millions of years. Now using extant representatives of these 'living fossils', we are able to piece together the evolution of vertebrate photoreception. While photoreception in hagfishes appears to be based on light detection and controlling circadian rhythms, rather than image formation, the photoreceptors of lampreys fall into five distinct classes and represent a critical stage in the dichotomy of rods and cones. At least four types of retinal cones sample the visual environment in lampreys mediating photopic (and potentially colour) vision, a sampling strategy retained by lungfishes, some modern teleosts, reptiles and birds. Trichromacy is retained in cartilaginous fishes (at least in batoids and holocephalans), where it is predicted that true scotopic (dim light) vision evolved in the common ancestor of all living gnathostomes. The capacity to discriminate colour and balance the tradeoff between resolution and sensitivity in the early vertebrates was an important driver of eye evolution, where many of the ocular features evolved were retained as vertebrates progressed on to land.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaun P Collin
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Queensland, Australia.
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Davies WL, Collin SP, Hunt DM. Adaptive Gene Loss Reflects Differences in the Visual Ecology of Basal Vertebrates. Mol Biol Evol 2009; 26:1803-9. [DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msp089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Davies WL, Carvalho LS, Tay BH, Brenner S, Hunt DM, Venkatesh B. Into the blue: gene duplication and loss underlie color vision adaptations in a deep-sea chimaera, the elephant shark Callorhinchus milii. Genome Res 2009; 19:415-26. [PMID: 19196633 DOI: 10.1101/gr.084509.108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
The cartilaginous fishes reside at the base of the gnathostome lineage as the oldest extant group of jawed vertebrates. Recently, the genome of the elephant shark, Callorhinchus milii, a chimaerid holocephalan, has been sequenced and therefore becomes the first cartilaginous fish to be analyzed in this way. The chimaeras have been largely neglected and very little is known about the visual systems of these fishes. By searching the elephant shark genome, we have identified gene fragments encoding a rod visual pigment, Rh1, and three cone visual pigments, the middle wavelength-sensitive or Rh2 pigment, and two isoforms of the long wavelength-sensitive or LWS pigment, LWS1 and LWS2, but no evidence for the two short wavelength-sensitive cone classes, SWS1 and SWS2. Expression of these genes in the retina was confirmed by RT-PCR. Full-length coding sequences were used for in vitro expression and gave the following peak absorbances: Rh1 496 nm, Rh2 442 nm, LWS1 499 nm, and LWS2 548 nm. Unusually, therefore, for a deep-sea fish, the elephant shark possesses cone pigments and the potential for trichromacy. Compared with other vertebrates, the elephant shark Rh2 and LWS1 pigments are the shortest wavelength-shifted pigments of their respective classes known to date. The mechanisms for this are discussed and we provide experimental evidence that the elephant shark LWS1 pigment uses a novel tuning mechanism to achieve the short wavelength shift to 499 nm, which inactivates the chloride-binding site. Our findings have important implications for the present knowledge of color vision evolution in early vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wayne L Davies
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London EC1V 9EL, United Kingdom
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26
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Muradov H, Kerov V, Boyd KK, Artemyev NO. Unique transducins expressed in long and short photoreceptors of lamprey Petromyzon marinus. Vision Res 2008; 48:2302-8. [PMID: 18687354 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2008.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2008] [Revised: 07/09/2008] [Accepted: 07/10/2008] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Lampreys represent the most primitive vertebrate class of jawless fish and serve as an evolutionary model of the vertebrate visual system. Transducin-alpha (G alpha(t)) subunits were investigated in lamprey Petromyzon marinus in order to understand the molecular origins of rod and cone photoreceptor G proteins. Two G alpha(t) subunits, G alpha(tL) and G alpha(tS), were identified in the P. marinus retina. G alpha(tL) is equally distant from cone and rod G proteins and is expressed in the lamprey's long photoreceptors. The short photoreceptor G alpha(tS) is a rod-like transducin-alpha that retains several unique features of cone transducins. Thus, the duplication of the ancestral transducin gene giving rise to rod transducins has already occurred in the last common ancestor of the jawed and jawless vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hakim Muradov
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
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27
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Abstract
SUMMARY
Jawless fishes (Agnatha; lampreys and hagfishes) most closely resemble the earliest stage in vertebrate evolution and lamprey-like animals already existed in the Lower Cambrian [about 540 million years ago (MYA)]. Agnathans are thought to have separated from the main vertebrate lineage at least 500 MYA. Hagfishes have primitive eyes, but the eyes of adult lampreys are well-developed. The southern hemisphere lamprey, Geotria australis,possesses five types of opsin genes, three of which are clearly orthologous to the opsin genes of jawed vertebrates. This suggests that the last common ancestor of all vertebrate lineages possessed a complex colour vision system. In the eyes of many bony fishes and tetrapods, well-focused colour images are created by multifocal crystalline lenses that compensate for longitudinal chromatic aberration. To trace the evolutionary origins of multifocal lenses,we studied the optical properties of the lenses in four species of lamprey(Geotria australis, Mordacia praecox, Lampetra fluviatilis and Petromyzon marinus), with representatives from all three of the extant lamprey families. Multifocal lenses are present in all lampreys studied. This suggests that the ability to create well-focused colour images with multifocal optical systems also evolved very early.
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Affiliation(s)
- O. S. E. Gustafsson
- Department of Cell and Organism Biology, Lund University, Helgonavägen 3,223 62 Lund, Sweden
| | - S. P. Collin
- Marine Neurobiology Laboratory, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Queensland, Australia
| | - R. H. H. Kröger
- Department of Cell and Organism Biology, Lund University, Helgonavägen 3,223 62 Lund, Sweden
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Adler R, Raymond PA. Have we achieved a unified model of photoreceptor cell fate specification in vertebrates? Brain Res 2007; 1192:134-50. [PMID: 17466954 PMCID: PMC2288638 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2007.03.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2007] [Revised: 03/08/2007] [Accepted: 03/16/2007] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
How does a retinal progenitor choose to differentiate as a rod or a cone and, if it becomes a cone, which one of their different subtypes? The mechanisms of photoreceptor cell fate specification and differentiation have been extensively investigated in a variety of animal model systems, including human and non-human primates, rodents (mice and rats), chickens, frogs (Xenopus) and fish. It appears timely to discuss whether it is possible to synthesize the resulting information into a unified model applicable to all vertebrates. In this review we focus on several widely used experimental animal model systems to highlight differences in photoreceptor properties among species, the diversity of developmental strategies and solutions that vertebrates use to create retinas with photoreceptors that are adapted to the visual needs of their species, and the limitations of the methods currently available for the investigation of photoreceptor cell fate specification. Based on these considerations, we conclude that we are not yet ready to construct a unified model of photoreceptor cell fate specification in the developing vertebrate retina.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Pamela A. Raymond
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan
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