scholarly journals Reverting ontogeny: rapid phenotypic plasticity of colour vision in cichlid fish

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 190841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Härer ◽  
Nidal Karagic ◽  
Axel Meyer ◽  
Julián Torres-Dowdall
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Visual Sensitivity ◽  
Ambient Light ◽  
Light Conditions ◽  
Ontogenetic Changes ◽  
Long Wavelength ◽  
Cone Opsin ◽  
Single Cone ◽  
Wavelength Light

Phenotypic plasticity, particularly during development, allows organisms to rapidly adjust to different environmental conditions. Yet, it is often unclear whether the extent and direction of plastic changes are restricted by an individual's ontogeny. Many species of cichlid fishes go through ontogenetic changes in visual sensitivity, from short to long wavelengths, by switching expression of cone opsin genes crucial for colour vision. During this progression, individuals often exhibit phenotypic plasticity to the ambient light conditions. However, it is commonly assumed that once an adult visual phenotype is reached, reverting to an earlier ontogenetic state with higher sensitivity at shorter wavelengths is not common. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate that four-month-old Midas cichlid fish ( Amphilophus astorquii ) show plasticity in single cone opsin expression after experiencing drastic changes in light conditions. Resulting shifts of visual sensitivity occurred presumably in an adaptive direction—towards shorter or longer wavelengths when exposed to short- or long-wavelength light, respectively. Single cone opsin expression changed within only a few days and went through a transitional phase of co-expression. When the environment was experimentally enriched in long-wavelength light, the corresponding change occurred gradually along a dorsoventral gradient within the retina. This plasticity allowed individuals to revert earlier ontogenetic changes and return to a more juvenile visual phenotype demonstrating previously unrecognized insights into temporal and spatial dynamics of phenotypic plasticity of the visual system in response to ambient light.

scholarly journals Alerting and Circadian Effects of Short-Wavelength vs. Long-Wavelength Narrow-Bandwidth Light during a Simulated Night Shift

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 502-522
Author(s):  
Erlend Sunde ◽  
Torhild Pedersen ◽  
Jelena Mrdalj ◽  
Eirunn Thun ◽  
Janne Grønli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Short Wavelength ◽  
Night Shift ◽  
Spectral Composition ◽  
Photon Density ◽  
Light Conditions ◽  
Long Wavelength ◽  
Narrow Bandwidth ◽  
Short Wavelength Light ◽  
Wavelength Light

Light can be used to facilitate alertness, task performance and circadian adaptation during night work. Novel strategies for illumination of workplaces, using ceiling mounted LED-luminaires, allow the use of a range of different light conditions, altering intensity and spectral composition. This study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03203538) investigated the effects of short-wavelength narrow-bandwidth light (λmax = 455 nm) compared to long-wavelength narrow-bandwidth light (λmax = 625 nm), with similar photon density (~2.8 × 1014 photons/cm2/s) across light conditions, during a simulated night shift (23:00–06:45 h) when conducting cognitive performance tasks. Light conditions were administered by ceiling mounted LED-luminaires. Using a within-subjects repeated measurements study design, a total of 34 healthy young adults (27 females and 7 males; mean age = 21.6 years, SD = 2.0 years) participated. The results revealed significantly reduced sleepiness and improved task performance during the night shift with short-wavelength light compared to long-wavelength light. There was also a larger shift of the melatonin rhythm (phase delay) after working a night shift in short-wavelength light compared to long-wavelength light. Participants’ visual comfort was rated as better in the short-wavelength light than the long-wavelength light. Ceiling mounted LED-luminaires may be feasible to use in real workplaces, as these have the potential to provide light conditions that are favorable for alertness and performance among night workers.

scholarly journals Contribution of opsins and chromophores to cone pigment variation across populations of Lake Victoria cichlids

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elodie Wilwert ◽  
Rampal S Etienne ◽  
Louis Van de Zande ◽  
Martine E Maan
Keyword(s):  
Lake Victoria ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
Visual Sensitivity ◽  
Turbid Water ◽  
Cone Opsin ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Environmental Causes ◽  
Pigment Variation

Adaptation to heterogeneous sensory environments has been implicated as a key parameter in speciation. Cichlid fish are a textbook example of divergent visual adaptation, mediated by variation in the sequences and expression levels of cone opsin genes (encoding the protein component of visual pigments). In some vertebrates including fish, visual sensitivity is also tuned by the ratio of Vitamin A1/A2-derived chromophores (i.e. the light-sensitive component of the visual pigment, bound to the opsin protein), where higher proportions of A2 cause a more red-shifted wavelength absorbance. Here, we explore variation in chromophore ratios across multiple cichlid populations in Lake Victoria, using as a proxy the enzyme CYP27C1 that catalyses the conversion of Vitamin A1- into A2. We focus on sympatric Pundamilia cichlids, where species with blue or red male coloration co-occur at multiple islands, but occupy different depths and consequently different visual habitats. In the red species, we found higher cyp27c1 expression in populations from turbid-water than from clear-water locations, but there was no such pattern in the blue species. Across populations, differences between the sympatric species in cyp27c1 expression had a consistent relationship with species differences in opsin expression patterns, but the red/blue identity reversed between clear- and turbid-water locations. To assess the contribution of heritable versus environmental causes of variation, we tested whether light manipulations induce a change in cyp27c1 expression in the laboratory. We found that cyp27c1 expression was not influenced by experimental light conditions, suggesting that the observed variation in the wild is due to genetic differences. Establishing the biological importance of this variation requires testing the link between cyp27c1 expression and A1/A2 ratios in the eye, as well as its consequences for visual performance.

Colour vision of domestic chicks

1999 ◽  
Vol 202 (21) ◽  
pp. 2951-2959 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Osorio ◽  
M. Vorobyev ◽  
C.D. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Motion Detection ◽  
Short Wavelength ◽  
Colour Vision ◽  
Gallus Gallus ◽  
Cone Photoreceptor ◽  
Long Wavelength ◽  
Domestic Chicks ◽  
Cone Type ◽  
Single Cone ◽  
Wavelength Light

The colour vision of domestic chicks (Gallus gallus) was investigated by training them to small food containers decorated with tilings of grey and coloured rectangles. Chicks learn to recognise the colour quickly and accurately. Chicks have four types of single-cone photoreceptor sensitive to ultraviolet, short-, medium- or long-wavelength light. To establish how these receptors are used for colour vision, stimuli were designed to be distinguished only by specific combinations of receptors. We infer (1) that all four single cones are used, and (2) that their outputs are encoded by at least three opponency mechanisms: one comparing the outputs of ultraviolet- and short-wavelength-sensitive receptors, one comparing the outputs of medium- and long-wavelength receptors and a third comparing of the outputs of short- and long- and/or medium-wavelength receptors. Thus, the chicks have tetrachromatic colour vision. These experiments do not exclude a role for the fifth cone type, double cones, but other evidence suggests that these cones serve luminance-based tasks, such as motion detection, and not colour recognition.

scholarly journals Demonstration of epitaxial growth of strain-relaxed GaN films on graphene/SiC substrates for long wavelength light-emitting diodes

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ye Yu ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Xiufang Chen ◽  
Lidong Zhang ◽  
Yang Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Epitaxial Growth ◽  
Light Emitting Diodes ◽  
Nitrogen Plasma ◽  
Biaxial Stress ◽  
Organic Chemical ◽  
Graphene Surface ◽  
Light Emitting ◽  
Long Wavelength ◽  
Pre Treatment ◽  
Wavelength Light

AbstractStrain modulation is crucial for heteroepitaxy such as GaN on foreign substrates. Here, the epitaxy of strain-relaxed GaN films on graphene/SiC substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition is demonstrated. Graphene was directly prepared on SiC substrates by thermal decomposition. Its pre-treatment with nitrogen-plasma can introduce C–N dangling bonds, which provides nucleation sites for subsequent epitaxial growth. The scanning transmission electron microscopy measurements confirm that part of graphene surface was etched by nitrogen-plasma. We study the growth behavior on different areas of graphene surface after pre-treatment, and propose a growth model to explain the epitaxial growth mechanism of GaN films on graphene. Significantly, graphene is found to be effective to reduce the biaxial stress in GaN films and the strain relaxation improves indium-atom incorporation in InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) active region, which results in the obvious red-shift of light-emitting wavelength of InGaN/GaN MQWs. This work opens up a new way for the fabrication of GaN-based long wavelength light-emitting diodes.

scholarly journals Improved CoChR Variants Restore Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity in a Mouse Model of Blindness under Ambient Light Conditions

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 1195-1205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tushar H. Ganjawala ◽  
Qi Lu ◽  
Mitchell D. Fenner ◽  
Gary W. Abrams ◽  
Zhuo-Hua Pan
Keyword(s):  
Visual Acuity ◽  
Mouse Model ◽  
Contrast Sensitivity ◽  
Ambient Light ◽  
Light Conditions

The visual pigments of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
JEFFRY I. FASICK ◽  
THOMAS W. CRONIN ◽  
DAVID M. HUNT ◽  
PHYLLIS R. ROBINSON
Keyword(s):  
Color Vision ◽  
Bottlenose Dolphin ◽  
Visual Pigments ◽  
Nucleotide Position ◽  
Long Wavelength ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Cone Opsin ◽  
Cone Pigments ◽  
The Common

To assess the dolphin's capacity for color vision and determine the absorption maxima of the dolphin visual pigments, we have cloned and expressed the dolphin opsin genes. On the basis of sequence homology with other mammalian opsins, a dolphin rod and long-wavelength sensitive (LWS) cone opsin cDNAs were identified. Both dolphin opsin cDNAs were expressed in mammalian COS-7 cells. The resulting proteins were reconstituted with the chromophore 11-cis-retinal resulting in functional pigments with absorption maxima (λmax) of 488 and 524 nm for the rod and cone pigments respectively. These λmax values are considerably blue shifted compared to those of many terrestrial mammals. Although the dolphin possesses a gene homologous to other mammalian short-wavelength sensitive (SWS) opsins, it is not expressed in vivo and has accumulated a number of deletions, including a frame-shift mutation at nucleotide position 31. The dolphin therefore lacks the common dichromatic form of color vision typical of most terrestrial mammals.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document