title: Three cone opsin genes determine the properties of the visual spectra in the Japanese anchovy, Engraulis japonicus (Engraulidae, Teleostei).
abstract: A complement of cone visual pigments was identified in the Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus, one of the engraulid fish species that has a retina specialized for polarization and color vision. The nature of the chromophore bound to opsin proteins was investigated using high performance liquid chromatography. The opsin genes were then cloned and sequenced, and the absorption spectra of different types of cones were obtained by microspectrophotometry. Two green (EJ-RH2-1, EJ-RH2-2) and one red (EJ-LWS) cone opsin genes were identified and are presumably related to the vitamin A1-based visual pigments (i.e. rhodopsins) with λmax values of 492, 474 and 512 nm, respectively. The long and short cones from the ventro-temporal retinal zone consisted of a pure population of RH2 class gene-based pigments (λmax=492 nm). The long and short cones from other retinal areas and the lateral components of the triple cones possessed a mixture of RH2 and LWS class gene-based pigments that exhibited a λmax of ~502 nm. The central component of the triple cones contained only RH2 class gene-based pigments (λmax=474 nm). Thus, E. japonicus possesses a middle-wave range of spectral sensitivity and acquires different color vision systems in distinct visual fields.
authors.affiliation: A. V. Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 690059 Vladivostok, Russia.
authors.forename: Sergei L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Kondrashev
authors.forename: Taeko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.forename: Nina E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Lamash
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuchiya
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D055253:Color Vision / Q000502:physiology*; D055358:Cone Opsins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D015591:Microspectrophotometry; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012426:Russia; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D055358:Cone Opsins