Nematostella vectensis exemplifies the exceptional expansion and diversity of opsins in the eyeless Hexacorallia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Opsins are the primary proteins responsible for light detection in animals. Cnidarians (jellyfish, sea anemones, corals) have diverse visual systems that have evolved in parallel with bilaterians (squid, flies, fish) for hundreds of millions of years. Medusozoans (e.g., jellyfish, hydroids) have evolved eyes multiple times, each time independently incorporating distinct opsin orthologs. Anthozoans (e.g., corals, sea anemones,) have diverse light-mediated behaviors and, despite being eyeless, exhibit more extensive opsin duplications than medusozoans. To better understand the evolution of photosensitivity in animals without eyes, we increased anthozoan representation in the phylogeny of animal opsins and investigated the large but poorly characterized opsin family in the

SUBMITTER: McCulloch KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10512536 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature