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Identification of rhodopsin in the pigeon deep brain
Author(s) -
Wada Yasutaka,
Okano Toshiyuki,
Adachi Akihito,
Ebihara Shizufumi,
Fukada Yoshitaka
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(98)00138-0
Subject(s) - rhodopsin , biology , complementary dna , gene , retinal , clone (java method) , microbiology and biotechnology , anatomy , genetics , biochemistry
We detected rhodopsin gene expression in the pigeon lateral septum, a photosensitive deep brain region that is responsible for the photoperiodic gonadal response. The nucleotide sequence of the deep brain rhodopsin cDNA clone exactly matched that of the retinal one, indicating that a single rhodopsin gene is transcribed in the two tissues. Immunohistochemical analysis localized rhodopsin in the cerebrospinal fluid‐contacting neurons, which have been assumed to be photoreceptive cells in the deep brain. Pigeon rhodopsin seems to play dual important roles in the visual and non‐visual systems, the latter of which contributes to the photoperiodic response.