Ci-opsin1, a vertebrate-type opsin gene, expressed in the larval ocellus of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis

Citation
T. Kusakabe et al., Ci-opsin1, a vertebrate-type opsin gene, expressed in the larval ocellus of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis, FEBS LETTER, 506(1), 2001, pp. 69-72
Citations number
30
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Biochemistry & Biophysics
Journal title
FEBS LETTERS
ISSN journal
0014-5793 → ACNP
Volume
506
Issue
1
Year of publication
2001
Pages
69 - 72
Database
ISI
SICI code
0014-5793(20010928)506:1<69:CAVOGE>2.0.ZU;2-5
Abstract
A novel gene encoding visual pigment, Ci-opsin1, was identified in a primit ive chordate, the ascidian, Ciona intestinalis. Molecular phylogenetic anal ysis and the exon-intron organization suggest that Ci-opsin1 is closely rel ated to the retinal and pineal opsins of vertebrates. During embryogenesis, Ci-opsin1 transcripts were first detected in part of the brain of mid tail bud embryos; its expression was confined to photoreceptor cells of the ocel lus (eye spot) in the larval brain as development proceeded. These results suggest a common descent of the ascidian ocellus and the vertebrate eyes. T he ocellus of ascidian larvae may represent an ancestral state of the verte brate eye. (C) 2001 Federation of European Biochemical Societies, Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.