Opsin-Driven Photoresponses of Distinct Intrinsically Photosensitive Dermal Chromatophores
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1
Queen's University, Department of Biology, Canada
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2
Queen's University, Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Canada
Many animals rely on the coordination of their visual perception and changeable integumentary color patterns to adapt to their surrounding backgrounds and/or achieve conspecific/interspecific interactions. Some animals may have an intrinsic photodetecting system in integumentary tissues. We monitored the expression of multiple light-sensing visual pigments in Nile tilapia integumentary tissues by quantitative real-time RT-PCR and Western blot. We show that opsin expression at a single-cell level could be related to photoresponses of intrinsically photosensitive dermal chromatophores (ipDCs). Ubiquitous opsin expression over the body surface was associated with chromatophore spatial distribution. In situ hybridization showed co-localization of different opsins on the dermal layers where chromatophores exist, and immunohistochemistry further demonstrated co-expression of opsins within two types of pigmented chromatophores, melanophores and erythrophores. Single-cell RT-PCR revealed differential opsin gene expression of SWS1/RH2b/LWS in melanophores and SWS1/RH2b/RH2aβ in erythrophores. We found distinct photoresponses in different classes of cells when chromatophores were stimulated with spectral light. Regardless of the wavelength of stimulation, melanophores tended to maintain their cell shapes in an expansion stage (dispersion) via continuous bidirectional movement of their inner pigment granules. Conversely, erythrophores aggregated or dispersed pigment granules when exposed to short- or middle/long-wavelength light stimulation, respectively. Moreover, our measurement of the spectral sensitivity further indicated that the SWS1 and RH2b visual pigments play key roles in the regulation of photosensitivity of erythrophores through their opposite and possibly antagonistic effects on intracellular molecular motors controlling motilities of inner pigment granules. Taken together, differential expression of opsins and functional analysis were characterized for distinct types of ipDCs in the present study. These findings advance our understanding of the physiological responses of chromatophores and offer new insight into the molecular interaction between opsins in an extraretinal system.
Keywords:
body coloration,
chromatophore,
Opsin,
photoresponse,
pigment cell,
visual pigment
Conference:
Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology, College Park. Maryland USA, United States, 5 Aug - 10 Aug, 2012.
Presentation Type:
Poster (but consider for participant symposium and student poster award)
Topic:
Sensory: Vision
Citation:
Chen
S,
Robertson
RM and
Hawryshyn
CW
(2012). Opsin-Driven Photoresponses of Distinct Intrinsically Photosensitive Dermal Chromatophores.
Conference Abstract:
Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnbeh.2012.27.00378
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Received:
01 May 2012;
Published Online:
07 Jul 2012.
*
Correspondence:
Mr. Shyh-Chi Chen, Queen's University, Department of Biology, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada, shyhchi.chen@mail.huji.ac.il