1991 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
New Visual Pigment and Color Vision of Cephalopod
| Project/Area Number |
02454553
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (B)
|
| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
|---|
| Research Field |
分子遺伝学・分子生理学
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Osaka University |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
KITO Yuji Osaka Univ. Biology, Assoc. Professor, 理学部, 助教授 (40028139)
|
|---|
| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
MICHINOMEA Masanao Konan Univ. Biology, Assoc. Prof., 理学部, 助教授 (60068145)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
1990 – 1991
|
| Keywords | Visual Pigment / 4-Hydroxyretinal / Retinal / Color Vision / Vision of Cephalopod / 3-Dehydroretinal |
|---|
| Research Abstract |
In this research, we found that the bioluminescent mesopelagic cephalopod, the firefly squid, Watasenia scintillants, had three visual. pig. ments in its retina ; each visual pigment being segregated in different parts of the retina and being based on a different chrontophore. A retinal (vitamin Al) based visual pigment with a 484nm absorbance maximum was largely confined in the dorsal retina and a 3-dehydroretinal (vitamin A2) based visual pigment with a 500nm abs. max. is found in the proximal part of the rhabdomes of the ventral retina. The new visual pigment based- on 4-hydroxyretinal (vitamin A4) with a 470nm abs. max. is found in the distal part of the rhabdomes of the ventral retina.
This mesopelagic squid is well known by the intense bioluminescence from the large photophores of the tips of both fourth arms. In addition, the squid has various small photophores on the ventral surface of mantle, head ano arms. The spectrosensitivity max. of the visual cells with the A2 pigment may be largely modified by the filter effect of overlaying the A4 pigment to be at 530nm. We measured the spectral intensity of the bioluminescence of the various types of small mantle photophores of this squid ; the blue bioluminescence with a maximum intensity at 470nm was observed below 6 C and the greenish yellow bioluminescence with a max. intensity at 530nm was observed above 12 C. The co-operative co-adaptation of eye and photophores may lead us to understand the unknown life of the mesopelagic animals that have been a majority in the animal kingdom on the earth.
|
Research Products
(14 results)
