Delroisse, Jérôme
[University of Mons]
Lanterbecq, Deborah
[University of Mons]
Eeckhaut, Igor
[University of Mons]
Mallefet, Jérôme
[UCL]
Flammang, Patrick
[University of Mons]
Vision in metazoans is permitted by opsin expression in photoreceptor cells. These opsins can be classified in two groups : the ciliary (c) and the rhabdomeric (r) opsins. Based on the r- and c-opsin sequences of the urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, degenerate primers were designed and used to amplify opsin genes in the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus and the sea star Asterias rubens by PCR. R-opsins sequences were obtained for P. lividus and A. rubens and compared to known echinoderm opsins. To complete the study, a commercial antibody, raised against the N-terminal domain of the rat rhodopsin was used to detect c-opsins in Western blot experiments. Putative c-opsins were detected in the oral and aboral integument of P. lividus. We also detected c-opsins in the aboral integument of A. rubens, but not in the oral integument nor in the podia. Furthermore, no antibody labeling was observed in extracts from the optic cushions known to contain r-opsins. In all eventualities, it is therefore likely that two types of opsins would co-occur in A. rubens and P. lividus as it is the case in S. purpuratus. In A. rubens, one opsin type would be located in the optic cushions and another in the aboral integument. This could support the idea that starfishes possess two types of vision: the optic cushions, involved in the immediate visual perception of the environment, and the aboral integument, certainly involved in a more diffuse photoreception.
Bibliographic reference |
Delroisse, Jérôme ; Lanterbecq, Deborah ; Eeckhaut, Igor ; Mallefet, Jérôme ; Flammang, Patrick. Opsin detection in the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus and the sea star Asterias rubens. In: Cahiers de Biologie Marine, Vol. 54, p. 721-727 (2013) |
Permanent URL |
http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/134949 |