QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (43) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Townson, S. M. Articles by Britt, S. G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Townson, S. M. Articles by Britt, S. G.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

The Journal of Neuroscience, April 1, 1998, 18(7):2412-2422

Honeybee Blue- and Ultraviolet-Sensitive Opsins: Cloning, Heterologous Expression in Drosophila, and Physiological Characterization

Steven M. Townson¹, Belinda S. W. Chang², Ernesto Salcedo¹, Linda V. Chadwell¹, Naomi E. Pierce², and Steven G. Britt¹

¹ Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Molecular Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas 78245, and ² Program In Neuroscience, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Department, Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology Labs, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

The honeybee (Apis mellifera) visual system contains three classes of retinal photoreceptor cells that are maximally sensitive to light at 440 nm (blue), 350 nm (ultraviolet), and 540 nm (green). We performed a PCR-based screen to identify the genes encoding the Apis blue- and ultraviolet (UV)-sensitive opsins. We obtained cDNAs that encode proteins having a high degree of sequence and structural similarity to other invertebrate and vertebrate visual pigments. The Apis blue opsin cDNA encodes a protein of 377 amino acids that is most closely related to other invertebrate visual pigments that are thought to be blue-sensitive. The UV opsin cDNA encodes a protein of 371 amino acids that is most closely related to the UV-sensitive Drosophila Rh3 and Rh4 opsins. To test whether these novel Apis opsin genes encode functional visual pigments and to determine their spectral properties, we expressed them in the R1-6 photoreceptor cells of blind ninaE mutant Drosophila, which lack the major opsin of the fly compound eye. We found that the expression of either the Apis blue- or UV-sensitive opsin in transgenic flies rescued the visual defect of ninaE mutants, indicating that both genes encode functional visual pigments. Spectral sensitivity measurements of these flies demonstrated that the blue and UV visual pigments are maximally sensitive to light at 439 and 353 nm, respectively. These maxima are in excellent agreement with those determined previously by single-cell recordings from Apis photoreceptor cells and provide definitive evidence that the genes described here encode visual pigments having blue and UV sensitivity.

Key words: Apis mellifera; honeybee; visual pigment; spectral tuning; ultraviolet-sensitive opsin; blue-sensitive opsin; electroretinogram; protein expression; Drosophila melanogaster

---

Copyright © 1998 Society for Neuroscience  0270-6474/98/1872412-11$05.00/0

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Maksimovic, T. A. Cook, and E. K. Buschbeck Spatial distribution of opsin-encoding mRNAs in the tiered larval retinas of the sunburst diving beetle Thermonectus marmoratus (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) J. Exp. Biol., December 1, 2009; 212(23): 3781 - 3794. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Kashiyama, T. Seki, H. Numata, and S. G. Goto Molecular Characterization of Visual Pigments in Branchiopoda and the Evolution of Opsins in Arthropoda Mol. Biol. Evol., February 1, 2009; 26(2): 299 - 311. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. N. Edwards and I. A. Meinertzhagen Photoreceptor Neurons Find New Synaptic Targets When Misdirected by Overexpressing runt in Drosophila J. Neurosci., January 21, 2009; 29(3): 828 - 841. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. L. Porter, T. W. Cronin, D. A. McClellan, and K. A. Crandall Molecular Characterization of Crustacean Visual Pigments and the Evolution of Pancrustacean Opsins Mol. Biol. Evol., January 1, 2007; 24(1): 253 - 268. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Arikawa, M. Wakakuwa, X. Qiu, M. Kurasawa, and D. G. Stavenga Sexual Dimorphism of Short-Wavelength Photoreceptors in the Small White Butterfly, Pieris rapae crucivora J. Neurosci., June 22, 2005; 25(25): 5935 - 5942. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Spaethe and A. D. Briscoe Molecular characterization and expression of the UV opsin in bumblebees: three ommatidial subtypes in the retina and a new photoreceptor organ in the lamina J. Exp. Biol., June 15, 2005; 208(12): 2347 - 2361. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Spaethe and A. D. Briscoe Early Duplication and Functional Diversification of the Opsin Gene Family in Insects Mol. Biol. Evol., August 1, 2004; 21(8): 1583 - 1594. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Wakakuwa, D. G. Stavenga, M. Kurasawa, and K. Arikawa A unique visual pigment expressed in green, red and deep-red receptors in the eye of the small white butterfly, Pieris rapae crucivora J. Exp. Biol., July 15, 2004; 207(16): 2803 - 2810. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. N. Danforth, S. G. Brady, S. D. Sipes, and A. Pearson Single-Copy Nuclear Genes Recover Cretaceous-Age Divergences in Bees Syst Biol, April 1, 2004; 53(2): 309 - 326. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Salcedo, L. Zheng, M. Phistry, E. E. Bagg, and S. G. Britt Molecular Basis for Ultraviolet Vision in Invertebrates J. Neurosci., November 26, 2003; 23(34): 10873 - 10878. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. E. Knox, E. Salcedo, K. Mathiesz, J. Schaefer, W.-H. Chou, L. V. Chadwell, W. C. Smith, S. G. Britt, and R. B. Barlow Heterologous Expression of Limulus Rhodopsin J. Biol. Chem., October 17, 2003; 278(42): 40493 - 40502. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Arikawa, S. Mizuno, M. Kinoshita, and D. G. Stavenga Coexpression of Two Visual Pigments in a Photoreceptor Causes an Abnormally Broad Spectral Sensitivity in the Eye of the Butterfly Papilio xuthus J. Neurosci., June 1, 2003; 23(11): 4527 - 4532. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. G. Stavenga Reflections on colourful ommatidia of butterfly eyes J. Exp. Biol., April 15, 2002; 205(8): 1077 - 1085. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. S. W. Chang and D. L. Campbell Bias in Phylogenetic Reconstruction of Vertebrate Rhodopsin Sequences Mol. Biol. Evol., August 1, 2000; 17(8): 1220 - 1231. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J Kitamoto, K Ozaki, and K Arikawa Ultraviolet and violet receptors express identical mRNA encoding an ultraviolet-absorbing opsin: identification and histological localization of two mRNAs encoding short-wavelength-absorbing opsins in the retina of the butterfly Papilio xuthus J. Exp. Biol., January 10, 2000; 203(19): 2887 - 2894. [Abstract] [PDF]

				E. Salcedo, A. Huber, S. Henrich, L. V. Chadwell, W.-H. Chou, R. Paulsen, and S. G. Britt Blue- and Green-Absorbing Visual Pigments of Drosophila: Ectopic Expression and Physiological Characterization of the R8 Photoreceptor Cell-Specific Rh5 and Rh6 Rhodopsins J. Neurosci., December 15, 1999; 19(24): 10716 - 10726. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help