Skip Navigation


MBE Advance Access originally published online on June 7, 2007
Molecular Biology and Evolution 2007 24(8):1843-1852; doi:10.1093/molbev/msm109
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Supplementary Material
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
24/8/1843    most recent
msm109v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Carvalho, L. S.
Right arrow Articles by Hunt, D. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Carvalho, L. S.
Right arrow Articles by Hunt, D. M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Research Articles

The Molecular Evolution of Avian Ultraviolet- and Violet-Sensitive Visual Pigments

Livia S. Carvalho, Jill A. Cowing, Susan E. Wilkie, James K. Bowmaker and David M. Hunt

UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, EC1V 9EL, United Kingdom

E-mail: d.hunt{at}ucl.ac.uk

Accepted for publication May 21, 2007.

The shortwave-sensitive SWS1 class of vertebrate visual pigments range in {lambda}max from the violet (385–445 nm) to the ultraviolet (UV) (365–355 nm), with UV-sensitivity almost certainly ancestral. In birds, however, the UV-sensitive pigments present in a number of species have evolved secondarily from an avian violet-sensitive (VS) pigment. All avian VS pigments expressed in vitro to date encode Ser86 whereas Phe86 is present in all non-avian ultraviolet sensitive (UVS) pigments. In this paper, we show by site directed mutagenesis of avian VS pigments that Ser86 is required in an avian VS pigment to maintain violet-sensitivity and therefore underlies the evolution of avian VS pigments. The major mechanism for the evolution of avian UVS pigments from an ancestral avian VS pigment is undoubtedly a Ser90Cys substitution. However, Phe86, as found in the Blue-crowned trogon, will also short-wave shift the pigeon VS pigment into the UV whereas Ala86 and Cys86 which are also found in natural avian pigments do not generate short-wave shifts when substituted into the pigeon pigment. From available data on avian SWS1 pigments, it would appear that UVS pigments have evolved on at least 5 separate occasions and utilize 2 different mechanisms for the short-wave shift.

Key Words: visual pigments • ultraviolet • spectral tuning • birds • vision

Adriana Briscoe, Associate Editor


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Biol LettHome page
A. Odeen, O. Hastad, and P. Alstrom
Evolution of ultraviolet vision in shorebirds (Charadriiformes)
Biol Lett, December 16, 2009; (2009) rsbl.2009.0877v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J HeredHome page
A. Odeen and O. Hastad
New Primers for the Avian SWS1 Pigment Opsin Gene Reveal New Amino Acid Configurations in Spectral Sensitivity Tuning Sites
J. Hered., November 1, 2009; 100(6): 784 - 789.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Phil Trans R Soc BHome page
D. M. Hunt, L. S. Carvalho, J. A. Cowing, and W. L. Davies
Evolution and spectral tuning of visual pigments in birds and mammals
Phil Trans R Soc B, October 12, 2009; 364(1531): 2941 - 2955.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.