title: A novel isoform of vertebrate ancient opsin in a smelt fish, Plecoglossus altivelis.
abstract: Vertebrate ancient (VA) opsin of nonvisual pigment in fishes was reported to exist in two isoforms, i.e., short and long variants with an unusual predicted amino acid sequence length compared to vertebrate visual opsins. Here we cloned an isoform (Pal-VAM) of VA opsin showing the usual opsin length in addition to the long type isoform (Pal-VAL) from a smelt fish, Plecoglossus altivelis. Pal-VAM and Pal-VAL were composed of 346 and 387 amino acids, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequences of these variants were identical to each other within the first 342 residues, but they showed divergence in the carboxyl-terminal sequence. Pal-VAL corresponded to the long isoform found in zebrafish and carp, and Pal-VAM was identified as a new type of VA opsin variant. Southern blotting experiments indicated that the VA opsin gene of the smelt is present as a single copy, and RT-PCR analysis revealed that Pal-VAM and Pal-VAL mRNA were expressed in both the eyes and brain. In situ hybridization showed that Pal-VAM and Pal-VAL mRNA are expressed in amacrine cells in the retina. Pal-VAM is a new probably functional nonvisual photoreceptive molecule in fish.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Ecology, Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Kamitanakami, Otsu, Shiga 520-2113, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshifumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Minamoto
authors.forename: Isamu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Shimizu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002347:Carps; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000378:metabolism; D005123:Eye / Q000378:metabolism; D005399:Fishes; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D012160:Retina / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017299:Rod Opsins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015027:Zebrafish
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D017299:Rod Opsins