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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] [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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Barros PKS, Castro FN, Pessoa DMA. Detection of conspicuous and cryptic food by common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus): An evaluation of the importance of color and shape cues. Behav Processes 2021; 192:104495. [PMID: 34487831 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Revised: 08/21/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
In primates, the advantage of trichromacy (i.e., color vision expressed by most humans) over dichromacy (i.e., color vision expressed by many colorblind humans) has been linked to the detection of yellowish/reddish targets against a background of mature green leaves. Nevertheless, mostly because of studies conducted in humans, we know that achromatic cues might also play an important role in object identification, particularly when camouflage is involved. For instance, dichromacy favors the detection of camouflaged targets by exploitation of shape cues. The present study sought to evaluate the relative importance of color and shape cues on the detection of food targets by female and male marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). Animals were observed with respect to their foraging behavior and the number of food targets captured. We confirmed that females are advantageous in detecting conspicuous food against a green background and revealed that females and males rely on shape cues to segregate cryptic food. Unexpectedly, males outperformed females in cryptic food foraging, while camouflage improved males' (but not females') performance. Here we show that dichromats could potentially benefit from a better segregation of green natural targets (e.g., immature fruits, green insects, and gum trees) when viewed against a green dappled background.
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Affiliation(s)
- Priscilla Kelly Silva Barros
- Laboratory of Sensory Ecology, Department of Physiology and Behavior, Biosciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, 59072-970, Brazil; Primate Center, Department of Physiology and Behavior, Biosciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, 59072-970, Brazil
| | - Felipe Nalon Castro
- Laboratory of Human Behavior Evolution, Department of Physiology and Behavior, Biosciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, 59072-970, Brazil
| | - Daniel Marques Almeida Pessoa
- Laboratory of Sensory Ecology, Department of Physiology and Behavior, Biosciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, 59072-970, Brazil; Primate Center, Department of Physiology and Behavior, Biosciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, 59072-970, Brazil.
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Henriques LD, Hauzman E, Bonci DMO, Chang BSW, Muniz JAPC, da Silva Souza G, de Lima Silveira LC, de Faria Galvão O, Goulart PRK, Ventura DF. Uniform trichromacy in Alouatta caraya and Alouatta seniculus: behavioural and genetic colour vision evaluation. Front Zool 2021; 18:36. [PMID: 34238318 PMCID: PMC8268213 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-021-00421-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Primate colour vision depends on a matrix of photoreceptors, a neuronal post receptoral structure and a combination of genes that culminate in different sensitivity through the visual spectrum. Along with a common cone opsin gene for short wavelengths (sws1), Neotropical primates (Platyrrhini) have only one cone opsin gene for medium-long wavelengths (mws/lws) per X chromosome while Paleotropical primates (Catarrhini), including humans, have two active genes. Therefore, while female platyrrhines may be trichromats, males are always dichromats. The genus Alouatta is inferred to be an exception to this rule, as electrophysiological, behavioural and molecular analyses indicated a potential for male trichromacy in this genus. However, it is very important to ascertain by a combination of genetic and behavioural analyses whether this potential translates in terms of colour discrimination capability. We evaluated two howler monkeys (Alouatta spp.), one male A. caraya and one female A. seniculus, using a combination of genetic analysis of the opsin gene sequences and a behavioral colour discrimination test not previously used in this genus. Both individuals completed the behavioural test with performances typical of trichromatic colour vision and the genetic analysis of the sws1, mws, and lws opsin genes revealed three different opsin sequences in both subjects. These results are consistent with uniform trichromacy in both male and female, with presumed spectral sensitivity peaks similar to Catarrhini, at ~ 430 nm, 532 nm, and 563 nm for S-, M- and L-cones, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Dutra Henriques
- Departamento de Psicologia Experimental, Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Einat Hauzman
- Departamento de Psicologia Experimental, Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Belinda S W Chang
- Department of Cell and System Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | | | - Givago da Silva Souza
- Núcleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil.,Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Luiz Carlos de Lima Silveira
- Núcleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil.,Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Olavo de Faria Galvão
- Núcleo de Teoria e Pesquisa do Comportamento, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | | | - Dora Fix Ventura
- Departamento de Psicologia Experimental, Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, Brazil
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