Premium
Co‐expression of opsins in the eye photoreceptor cells of the terrestrial slug Limax valentianus
Author(s) -
Matsuo Ryota,
Koyanagi Mitsumasa,
Nagata Akane,
Matsuo Yuko
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/cne.24732
Subject(s) - opsin , rhodopsin , biology , slug , in situ hybridization , visual phototransduction , microbiology and biotechnology , retina , messenger rna , anatomy , botany , retinal , neuroscience , biochemistry , gene , ecology
Visual opsins coupled with G q ‐type G protein have been considered to be responsible for the vision in mollusks. Recent transcriptomic studies, however, revealed the presence of opsin mRNA belonging to different groups of opsin subfamilies in the eyes of mollusks. In the present study, we found that at least three different opsins, G q ‐coupled rhodopsin, opsin5A, and xenopsin, are co‐expressed in the rhabdomeric photoreceptor cell in the eyes of the terrestrial slug Limax valentianus . These opsins were all localized to the microvilli of the rhabdomere. Co‐expression of rhodopsin and opsin5A mRNA was also demonstrated by dual fluorescence in situ hybridization. Co‐expression of multiple opsins in the rhabdomeric photoreceptors cells may explain the previously reported shift in the action spectra of the electroretinogram of eyes of Limax flavus between the light‐ and dark‐adapted states, which was also reproduced in the present study in L. valentianus .