The crowns have eyes: multiple opsins found in the eyes of the crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Opsins are G protein-coupled receptors used for both visual and non-visual photoreception, and these proteins evolutionarily date back to the base of the bilaterians. In the current sequencing age, phylogenomic analysis has proven to be a powerful tool, facilitating the increase in knowledge about diversity within the opsin subclasses and, so far, at least nine types of opsins have been identified. Within echinoderms, opsins have been studied in Echinoidea and Ophiuroidea, which do not possess proper image forming eyes, but rather widely dispersed dermal photoreceptors. However, most species of Asteroidea, the starfish, possess true eyes and studying them will shed light on the diversity of opsin usage within echinoderms and help resolve the evolutionary history of opsin

SUBMITTER: Lowe EK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6233551 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature