The molecular genetics of red and green color vision in mammals.
To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of red-green color vision in mammals, we have cloned and sequenced the red and green opsin cDNAs of cat (Felis catus), horse (Equus caballus), gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and guinea pig (Cavia porcellus). These opsins were expressed in COS1 cells and reconstituted with 11-cis-retinal. The purified visual pigments of the cat, horse, squirrel, deer, and guinea pig have lambdamax values at 553, 545, 532, 531, and 516 nm, respectively, which are precise to within +/-1 nm. We also regenerated the "true" red pigment of goldfish (Carassius auratus), which has a lambdamax value at 559 +/- 4 nm. Multiple linear regression analyses show that S180A, H197Y, Y277F, T285A, and A308S shift the lambdamax values of the red and green pigments in mammals toward blue by 7, 28, 7, 15, and 16 nm, respectively, and the reverse amino acid changes toward red by the same extents. The additive effects of these amino acid changes fully explain the red-green color vision in a wide range of mammalian species, goldfish, American chameleon (Anolis carolinensis), and pigeon (Columba livia).
Yokoyama
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Department of Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA. syokoyam@mailbox.syr.edu
Radlwimmer
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D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019556:COS Cells; D002415:Cats; D003118:Color Perception / Q000235:genetics*; D017931:DNA Primers; D003670:Deer; D004289:Dolphins; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006041:Goats; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006736:Horses; D006801:Humans; D008322:Mammals / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017299:Rod Opsins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D012589:Sciuridae; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014162:Transfection
D017931:DNA Primers; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D017299:Rod Opsins