Convergent mechanism underlying the acquisition of vertebrate scotopic vision.

ABSTRACT: High sensitivity of scotopic vision (vision in dim light conditions) is achieved by the rods' low background noise, which is attributed to a much lower thermal activation rate (k_th) of rhodopsin compared with cone pigments. Frogs and nocturnal geckos uniquely possess atypical rods containing noncanonical cone pigments that exhibit low k_th, mimicking rhodopsin. Here, we investigated the convergent mechanism underlying the low k_th of rhodopsins and noncanonical cone pigments. Our biochemical analysis revealed that the k_th of canonical cone pigments depends on their absorption maximum (λ_max). However, rhodopsin and noncanonical cone pigments showed a substantially lower k_th than predicted from the λ_max dependency. Gi

SUBMITTER: Kojima K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11007431 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature