科研之友
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摘要
Knowledge of insect color vision and the genes that support color vision has been growing recently. Yet, research on some groups is limited (e.g., Mecoptera). Common scorpionflies (Panorpidae) are highly visual insects with many intriguing behaviors. We hypothesized that the family Panorpidae employs a complex color vision system and predicted that multiple opsin classes are expressed in the lineage. Transcriptomes were generated from the eye tissues for two species of Panorpidae (Panorpa acuminata and P. nebulosa) and one species of Boreidae (Boreus coloradensis). Opsins isolated from the transcriptomes were combined in a phylogenetic analysis with opsin sequences from other insect orders (e.g., those that are sensitive to ultraviolet, blue, and long wavelength light as part of the photopigment). A single long-wavelength opsin sequence was recovered from the panorpid species, while all three opsin classes (ultraviolet, blue, and long-wavelength) were recovered from the boreid. Among insects, this represents a potential case of monochromy due to a loss of opsin gene expression in the blue and ultraviolet portions of the visible light spectrum.
- 出版日期2016-3
