COA Grant Summary (2012 award) for: Discovering visual capabilities of the unique eye in the scallop, Argopecten irradians

摘要

Scallops are marine bivalves that contain multiple, mirror-type eyes. Scallops are unlike many other animals because each eye contains two different retinas, the distal and the proximal retina. The visual pigments, or opsins, are a group of light sensitive G-protein coupled receptors and are required for vision in all animals. Thus far，only one opsin has been identified in either scallop retina (Gq-opsin and Go-opsin are located in the proximal or distal retina, respectively), suggesting the images formed by the scallop eye are monochromatic. While isolating the Gq-opsin gene from | the eye, I discovered a second Gq-opsin copy, which is present in multiple scallop species, If the two opsins are housed ； in the same retina and they differ in wavelength absotbance (function), then this study will provide preliminary evidence: for dichromatic (color) vision in scallops