A comparative study of rhodopsin function in the great bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus nuchalis): Spectral tuning and light-activated kinetics.

ABSTRACT: Rhodopsin is the visual pigment responsible for initiating the phototransduction cascade in vertebrate rod photoreceptors. Although well-characterized in a few model systems, comparative studies of rhodopsin function, particularly for nonmammalian vertebrates are comparatively lacking. Bowerbirds are rare among passerines in possessing a key substitution, D83N, at a site that is otherwise highly conserved among G protein-coupled receptors. While this substitution is present in some dim-light adapted vertebrates, often accompanying another unusual substitution, A292S, its functional relevance in birds is uncertain. To investigate functional effects associated with these two substitutions, we use the rhodopsin gene from the great bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus nuchalis) as a background for site-

SUBMITTER: van Hazel I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4918423 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature