The evolution of phototransduction from an ancestral cyclic nucleotide gated pathway.

ABSTRACT: The evolutionary histories of complex traits are complicated because such traits are comprised of multiple integrated and interacting components, which may have different individual histories. Phylogenetic studies of complex trait evolution often do not take this into account, instead focusing only on the history of whole, integrated traits; for example, mapping eyes as simply present or absent through history. Using the biochemistry of animal vision as a model, we demonstrate how investigating the individual components of complex systems can aid in elucidating both the origins and diversification of such systems. Opsin-based phototransduction underlies all visual phenotypes in animals, using complex protein cascades that translate light information into changes in cyclic nucleotide gated

SUBMITTER: Plachetzki DC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2880087 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature