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Updated: Oct 5, 2026

Determination of Photoreceptor Cell Spectral Sensitivity in an Insect Model from In Vivo Intracellular Recordings
Published on: February 26, 2016
Distribution of blue-sensitive photoreceptors in amphibian retinas
Y Takahashi1, O Hisatomi, S Sakakibara
1Department of System Information Science, Graduate School of Information Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
Abstract:
Previously, we reported that an opsin (Rc-MS) belonging to the SWS2 group opsins is expressed in bullfrog green rods [Hisatomi, O. et al., FEBS Lett., 1999, 447, 44-48]. An anti-Rc-MS antiserum recognized the cones of the Japanese common newt, Cynops pyrrhogaster, which has no green rods. We isolated a cDNA encoding an SWS2 group opsin (Cp-SWS2) from this newt and found that Cp-SWS2 is expressed in a small population of the cones. Our results suggest that SWS2 opsins can be expressed in either green rods or cones of caudata. It seems reasonable to suppose that green rods arose before amphibia were divided into caudata and anura.
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