title: Sequence and evolution of the blue cone pigment gene in Old and New World primates.
abstract: The sequences of the blue cone photopigments in the talapoin monkey (Miopithecus talapoin), an Old World primate, and in the marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), a New World monkey, are presented. Both genes are composed of 5 exons separated by 4 introns. In this respect, they are identical to the human blue gene, and intron sizes are also similar. Based on the level of amino acid identity, both monkey pigments are members of the S branch of pigments. Alignment of these sequences with the human gene requires the insertion/deletion of two separate codons in exon 1. The silent site divergence between these primate blue genes indicates a separation of the Old and New World primate lineages around 43 million years ago.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, University of London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cowing
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Appukuttan
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Bowmaker
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Mollon
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002144:Callithrix / Q000235:genetics*; D002520:Cercopithecidae / Q000235:genetics*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D005091:Exons; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012168:Retinal Pigments / Q000235:genetics*; D017299:Rod Opsins; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D005136:Eye Proteins; D012168:Retinal Pigments; D017299:Rod Opsins; C095853:short-wavelength opsin