The cephalopod molluscs are a group of invertebrates that occupy a wide range of oceanic photic environments. They are an ideal group of animals, therefore, in which to study the evolution of rhodopsin. The cDNA sequence of the rhodopsin gene of the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis (L.) (Sub-class Coleoidea, Order Sepiida) is presented, together with an analysis of the structure of the gene. A proline-rich C terminus is present; this structure is characteristic of cephalopod rhodopsins. In common with all invertebrate opsins studied so far, the equivalent site to the counterion in vertebrate opsins is occupied by an aromatic amino acid. An intron is present that splits codon 107, in contrast to the intronless rhodopsin gene in two species of myopsid squid. A spectral tuning model involving substitutions at only three amino acid sites is proposed for the spectral shifts between the rhodopsins of Sepia officinalis, three species of squid and Paroctopus defleini.
In the field: an interview with Sönke Johnsen
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Sönke Johnsen is a Professor at Duke University, USA, investigating visual ecology and he talks about his experiences of collecting transparent animals while blue water diving and in a submersible, as well as outrunning Hurricane Katrina.
Call for new preLighters
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preLights is the preprint highlighting community supported by The Company of Biologists. At the heart of preLights are our preLighters: early-career researchers who select and write about interesting new preprints for the research community. We are currently looking for new preLighters to join our team. Find out more and apply here.
Graham Scott in conversation with Big Biology
Graham Scott talks to Big Biology about the oxygen cascade in mice living on mountaintops, extreme environments for such small organisms. In this JEB-sponsored episode, they discuss the concept of symmorphosis and the evolution of the oxygen cascade.
Trap-jaw ants coordinate tendon and exoskeleton for perfect mandible arc
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Trap-jaw ants run the risk of tearing themselves apart when they fire off their mandibles, but Greg Sutton & co have discovered that the ants simultaneously push and pull the mandibles using energy stored in a head tendon and their exoskeleton to drive the jaws in a perfect arc.
Hearing without a tympanic ear
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In their Review, Grace Capshaw, Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard and Catherine Carr explore the mechanisms of hearing in extant atympanate vertebrates and the implications for the early evolution of tympanate hearing.
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