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Expression of extraocular opsin genes and light-dependent basal activity of blind cavefish

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Title: Expression of extraocular opsin genes and light-dependent basal activity of blind cavefish
Authors: Noah Simon, Suguru Fujita, Megan Porter, Masato Yoshizawa
Source: PeerJ, Vol 7, p e8148 (2019)
Publisher Information: PeerJ Inc., 2019.
Publication Year: 2019
Collection: LCC:Medicine
LCC:Biology (General)
Subject Terms: Hypogean, Swimming burst, Masking, Visual sensation, Medicine, Biology (General), QH301-705.5
More Details: Background Animals living in well-lit environments utilize optical stimuli for detecting visual information, regulating the homeostatic pacemaker, and controlling patterns of body pigmentation. In contrast, many subterranean animal species without optical stimuli have evolved regressed binocular eyes and body pigmentation. Interestingly, some fossorial and cave-dwelling animals with regressed eyes still respond to light. These light-dependent responses may be simply evolutionary residuals or they may be adaptive, where negative phototaxis provides avoidance of predator-rich surface environments. However, the relationship between these non-ocular light responses and the underlying light-sensing Opsin proteins has not been fully elucidated. Methods To highlight the potential functions of opsins in a blind subterranean animal, we used the Mexican cave tetra to investigate opsin gene expression in the eyes and several brain regions of both surface and cave-dwelling adults. We performed database surveys, expression analyses by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR), and light-dependent locomotor activity analysis using pinealectomized fish, one of the high-opsin expressing organs of cavefish. Results Based on conservative criteria, we identified 33 opsin genes in the cavefish genome. Surveys of available RNAseq data found 26 of these expressed in the surface fish eye as compared to 24 expressed in cavefish extraocular tissues, 20 of which were expressed in the brain. RT-qPCR of 26 opsins in surface and cavefish eye and brain tissues showed the highest opsin-expressing tissue in cavefish was the pineal organ, which expressed exo-rhodopsin at 72.7% of the expression levels in surface fish pineal. However, a pinealectomy resulted in no change to the light-dependent locomotor activity in juvenile cavefish and surface fish. Therefore, we conclude that, after 20,000 or more years of evolution in darkness, cavefish light-dependent basal activity is regulated by a non-pineal extraocular organ.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2167-8359
Relation: https://peerj.com/articles/8148.pdf; https://peerj.com/articles/8148/; https://doaj.org/toc/2167-8359
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8148
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/97f980ecf9d54c98bf9d6937726d8079
Accession Number: edsdoj.97f980ecf9d54c98bf9d6937726d8079
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  Data: Background Animals living in well-lit environments utilize optical stimuli for detecting visual information, regulating the homeostatic pacemaker, and controlling patterns of body pigmentation. In contrast, many subterranean animal species without optical stimuli have evolved regressed binocular eyes and body pigmentation. Interestingly, some fossorial and cave-dwelling animals with regressed eyes still respond to light. These light-dependent responses may be simply evolutionary residuals or they may be adaptive, where negative phototaxis provides avoidance of predator-rich surface environments. However, the relationship between these non-ocular light responses and the underlying light-sensing Opsin proteins has not been fully elucidated. Methods To highlight the potential functions of opsins in a blind subterranean animal, we used the Mexican cave tetra to investigate opsin gene expression in the eyes and several brain regions of both surface and cave-dwelling adults. We performed database surveys, expression analyses by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR), and light-dependent locomotor activity analysis using pinealectomized fish, one of the high-opsin expressing organs of cavefish. Results Based on conservative criteria, we identified 33 opsin genes in the cavefish genome. Surveys of available RNAseq data found 26 of these expressed in the surface fish eye as compared to 24 expressed in cavefish extraocular tissues, 20 of which were expressed in the brain. RT-qPCR of 26 opsins in surface and cavefish eye and brain tissues showed the highest opsin-expressing tissue in cavefish was the pineal organ, which expressed exo-rhodopsin at 72.7% of the expression levels in surface fish pineal. However, a pinealectomy resulted in no change to the light-dependent locomotor activity in juvenile cavefish and surface fish. Therefore, we conclude that, after 20,000 or more years of evolution in darkness, cavefish light-dependent basal activity is regulated by a non-pineal extraocular organ.
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