From the Cover: Evidence for light perception in a bioluminescent organ |
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| Authors: | Deyan Tong Natalia S. Rozas Todd H. Oakley Jane Mitchell Nansi J. Colley Margaret J. McFall-Ngai |
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| Affiliation: | aDepartment of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and ;bDepartment of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706; ;cDepartment of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106; and ;dDepartment of Pharmacology, University of Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 1A8 |
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| Abstract: | Here we show that bioluminescent organs of the squid Euprymna scolopes possess the molecular, biochemical, and physiological capability for light detection. Transcriptome analyses revealed expression of genes encoding key visual transduction proteins in light-organ tissues, including the same isoform of opsin that occurs in the retina. Electroretinograms demonstrated that the organ responds physiologically to light, and immunocytochemistry experiments localized multiple proteins of visual transduction cascades to tissues housing light-producing bacterial symbionts. These data provide evidence that the light-organ tissues harboring the symbionts serve as extraocular photoreceptors, with the potential to perceive directly the bioluminescence produced by their bacterial partners. |
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| Keywords: | Euprymna evolutionary tinkering extraocular photoreceptor visual transduction |
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