Variable light environments induce plastic spectral tuning by regional opsin coexpression in the African cichlid fish, Metriaclima zebra

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dc.contributor.authorDalton, Brian E.
dc.contributor.authorLu, Jessica
dc.contributor.authorLeips, Jeff
dc.contributor.authorCronin, Thomas W.
dc.contributor.authorCarleton, Karen L.
dc.date.accessioned2019-04-12T15:27:52Z
dc.date.available2019-04-12T15:27:52Z
dc.date.issued2015-08-06
dc.description.abstractCritical behaviors such as predation and mate choice often depend on vision. Visual systems are sensitive to the spectrum of light in their environment, which can vary extensively both within and among habitats. Evolutionary changes in spectral sensitivity contribute to divergence and speciation. Spectral sensitivity of the retina is primarily determined by visual pigments, which are opsin proteins bound to a chromophore. We recently discovered that photoreceptors in different regions of the retina, which view objects against distinct environmental backgrounds, coexpress different pairs of opsins in an African cichlid fish, Metriaclima zebra. This coexpression tunes the sensitivity of the retinal regions to the corresponding backgrounds and may aid detection of dark objects, such as predators. Although intraretinal regionalization of spectral sensitivity in many animals correlates with their light environments, it is unknown whether variation in the light environment induces developmentally plastic alterations of intraretinal sensitivity regions. Here, we demonstrate with fluorescent in situ hybridization and qPCR that the spectrum and angle of environmental light both influence the development of spectral sensitivity regions by altering the distribution and level of opsins across the retina. Normally M. zebra coexpresses LWS opsin with RH2Aα opsin in double cones of the ventral but not the dorsal retina. However, when illuminated from below throughout development, adult M. zebra coexpressed LWS and RH2Aα in double cones both dorsally and ventrally. Thus, environmental background spectra alter the spectral sensitivity pattern that develops across the retina, potentially influencing behaviors and related evolutionary processes such as courtship and speciation.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThis work was supported by the National Science Foundation through a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant DEB-011337 (to BED and TWC) and by NSF grant IOS-0841270 and NIH grant 1R01EY024639 (to KLC). We thank members of the Thomas Kocher lab for help with fish husbandry.en_US
dc.description.urihttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4532641/en_US
dc.format.extent20 pagesen_US
dc.genrejournal articles postprintsen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m20gcz-uwfc
dc.identifier.citationBrian E. Dalton, Jessica Lu, Jeff Leips , Thomas W. Cronin , Karen L. Carleton, Variable light environments induce plastic spectral tuning by regional opsin coexpression in the African cichlid fish, Metriaclima zebra, Mol Ecol. 2015 Aug; 24(16): 4193–4204. Published online 2015 Aug 6. doi: 10.1111/mec.13312en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1111/mec.13312
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/13414
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherWiley Periodicalsen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Biological Sciences Department Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Faculty Collection
dc.rightsThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/*
dc.subjectopsinen_US
dc.subjectvisual sensitivityen_US
dc.subjectcichliden_US
dc.subjectspectral tuningen_US
dc.subjectgene expressionen_US
dc.subjectplasticityen_US
dc.titleVariable light environments induce plastic spectral tuning by regional opsin coexpression in the African cichlid fish, Metriaclima zebraen_US
dc.typeTexten_US

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