Evolution of the Nonvisual and Visual Opsin Gene Repertoire in Ray-Finned Fishes.

ABSTRACT: Photoreception-the detection of light for image formation (vision) as well as for nonimage-forming purposes (circadian regulation and DNA repair)-is critical to the survival of most animals. In vertebrates, photoreception is mediated by opsin proteins, which are classified, according to their function, into visual and nonvisual opsins. Here, we provide the most comprehensive study to date on the evolution of the opsin gene family in the largest class of vertebrates, actinopterygians, with a particular focus on the understudied nonvisual opsins. Based on an in-depth analysis of 535 high-quality genomes, we document great variation in gene numbers in the different opsin gene subfamilies across ray-finned fishes and show that visual opsins are more prone to duplications and losses than nonvis

SUBMITTER: Policarpo M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12279438 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature