Copy Number Variation and Expression Analysis Reveals a Nonorthologous Pinta Gene Family Member Involved in Butterfly Vision.

ABSTRACT: Vertebrate (cellular retinaldehyde-binding protein) and Drosophila (prolonged depolarization afterpotential is not apparent [PINTA]) proteins with a CRAL-TRIO domain transport retinal-based chromophores that bind to opsin proteins and are necessary for phototransduction. The CRAL-TRIO domain gene family is composed of genes that encode proteins with a common N-terminal structural domain. Although there is an expansion of this gene family in Lepidoptera, there is no lepidopteran ortholog of pinta. Further, the function of these genes in lepidopterans has not yet been established. Here, we explored the molecular evolution and expression of CRAL-TRIO domain genes in the butterfly Heliconius melpomene in order to identify a member of this gene family as a candidate chromophore transporter. We

SUBMITTER: Macias-Munoz A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5739039 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature