Stable transgenesis in the marine annelid Platynereis dumerilii sheds new light on photoreceptor evolution.

ABSTRACT: Research in eye evolution has mostly focused on eyes residing in the head. In contrast, noncephalic light sensors are far less understood and rather regarded as evolutionary innovations. We established stable transgenesis in the annelid Platynereis, a reference species for evolutionary and developmental comparisons. EGFP controlled by cis-regulatory elements of r-opsin, a characteristic marker for rhabdomeric photoreceptors, faithfully recapitulates known r-opsin expression in the adult eyes, and marks a pair of pigment-associated frontolateral eyelets in the brain. Unexpectedly, transgenic animals revealed an additional series of photoreceptors in the ventral nerve cord as well as photoreceptors that are located in each pair of the segmental dorsal appendages (notopodia) and project into

SUBMITTER: Backfisch B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3538230 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature