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- Title
Opsin expression: new mechanism for modulating colour vision.
- Authors
Cheng, Christiana L; Novales Flamarique, Iñigo
- Abstract
Each cone photoreceptor in the retina responds to light in a limited range of wavelengths, giving it a spectral phenotype. This phenotype is determined by the most prevalent of the photoreceptor's visual-pigment proteins (opsins) and is assumed to remain unchanged during an animal's lifetime. Here we show that in the Pacific pink salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, single cones can switch their spectral phenotype from ultraviolet to blue by regulating the production of the appropriate opsins as the fish grow older. This photoreceptor plasticity may operate to modulate colour vision as the salmon's lifestyle changes.
- Publication
Nature, 2004, Vol 428, Issue 6980, p279
- ISSN
1476-4687
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1038/428279a