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Phototransduction in fan worm radiolar eyes

Bok, Michael J. LU ; Porter, Megan L. and Nilsson, Dan Eric LU (2017) In Current Biology 27(14). p.698-699
Abstract

Fan worms (Annelida: Sabellidae) are sessile polychaetes that spend their adult lives in tubes and project their fans, composed of radiolar tentacles, up into the water column for respiration and filter feeding. To protect the fan from predation, many species have evolved unique compound eyes on the radioles that function as shadow or motion detectors, eliciting a rapid withdrawal response in reaction to encroaching objects in the water column [1,2]. The structure of the eyes, their complexity, and their arrangements on the radioles are very diverse among sabellid genera [3] and they display many characteristics atypical of polychaete eyes, such as ciliary photoreceptors [3,4] that hyperpolarize in response to illumination [5]. Here we... (More)

Fan worms (Annelida: Sabellidae) are sessile polychaetes that spend their adult lives in tubes and project their fans, composed of radiolar tentacles, up into the water column for respiration and filter feeding. To protect the fan from predation, many species have evolved unique compound eyes on the radioles that function as shadow or motion detectors, eliciting a rapid withdrawal response in reaction to encroaching objects in the water column [1,2]. The structure of the eyes, their complexity, and their arrangements on the radioles are very diverse among sabellid genera [3] and they display many characteristics atypical of polychaete eyes, such as ciliary photoreceptors [3,4] that hyperpolarize in response to illumination [5]. Here we examine the retinal transcriptome of the radiolar eyes from the fan worm Megalomma interrupta. We find that the opsin, the protein component of light sensitive visual pigments, and other phototransduction cascade signaling proteins expressed in these eyes are related to those commonly associated with vertebrate ciliary photoreceptors, as opposed to the rhabdomeric receptors found in the primary eyes of many invertebrates. With previous anatomical and physiological observations, these results suggest that the radiolar eyes arose independently in fan worms.

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author
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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Current Biology
volume
27
issue
14
pages
698 - 699
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85025451971
  • pmid:28743013
ISSN
0960-9822
DOI
10.1016/j.cub.2017.05.093
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a597ef52-1036-4816-951b-18f02bf8e244
date added to LUP
2018-01-24 10:24:28
date last changed
2024-05-27 05:55:20
@article{a597ef52-1036-4816-951b-18f02bf8e244,
  abstract     = {{<p>Fan worms (Annelida: Sabellidae) are sessile polychaetes that spend their adult lives in tubes and project their fans, composed of radiolar tentacles, up into the water column for respiration and filter feeding. To protect the fan from predation, many species have evolved unique compound eyes on the radioles that function as shadow or motion detectors, eliciting a rapid withdrawal response in reaction to encroaching objects in the water column [1,2]. The structure of the eyes, their complexity, and their arrangements on the radioles are very diverse among sabellid genera [3] and they display many characteristics atypical of polychaete eyes, such as ciliary photoreceptors [3,4] that hyperpolarize in response to illumination [5]. Here we examine the retinal transcriptome of the radiolar eyes from the fan worm Megalomma interrupta. We find that the opsin, the protein component of light sensitive visual pigments, and other phototransduction cascade signaling proteins expressed in these eyes are related to those commonly associated with vertebrate ciliary photoreceptors, as opposed to the rhabdomeric receptors found in the primary eyes of many invertebrates. With previous anatomical and physiological observations, these results suggest that the radiolar eyes arose independently in fan worms.</p>}},
  author       = {{Bok, Michael J. and Porter, Megan L. and Nilsson, Dan Eric}},
  issn         = {{0960-9822}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{14}},
  pages        = {{698--699}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Current Biology}},
  title        = {{Phototransduction in fan worm radiolar eyes}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.05.093}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.cub.2017.05.093}},
  volume       = {{27}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}