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Related Concept Videos

Visual System01:26

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Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
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Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.
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At the molecular level, visual signals trigger transformations in photopigment molecules, resulting in changes in the photoreceptor cell's membrane potential. The photon's energy level is denoted by its wavelength, with each specific wavelength of visible light associated with a distinct color. The spectral range of visible light, classified as electromagnetic radiation, spans from 380 to 720 nm. Electromagnetic radiation wavelengths exceeding 720 nm fall under the infrared category,...
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Automated Charting of the Visual Space of Housefly Compound Eyes
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Deep Diversity: Extensive Variation in the Components of Complex Visual Systems across Animals.

Oliver Vöcking1, Aide Macias-Muñoz2, Stuart J Jaeger2

  • 1Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40508, USA.

Cells
|December 23, 2022
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Exploring the evolution of complex animal systems reveals "deep diversity" in the genes and regulatory interactions underlying similar traits like eyes across species. This highlights significant variation in the molecular components of biological complexity.

Keywords:
eye evolutionopsinphotoreceptorphototransductionvisual cycle

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Comparative Genomics

Background:

  • Understanding the genetic basis of complex system evolution is crucial.
  • Animal eyes and phototransduction offer a model for studying trait evolution due to well-characterized genetics in some species.
  • Comparative studies in non-model organisms are vital for a comprehensive evolutionary perspective.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the extent to which similar or different genes and regulatory interactions underlie similar complex systems (e.g., animal eyes) across diverse species.
  • To compare photoreceptor cells, opsins, and phototransduction cascades in various taxa, with a focus on cnidarians.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of photoreceptor cell characteristics, opsins, and phototransduction cascades across diverse taxa.
  • Focus on cnidarians as a key group for detailed investigation.
  • Utilizing insights from model organisms while advocating for unbiased genome-wide comparisons in non-model organisms.

Main Results:

  • Findings challenge the concept of 'deep homology' by revealing a 'deep diversity' in the molecular components underlying similar complex traits.
  • Comparisons, particularly in non-model organisms, demonstrate significant variation in genes and regulatory interactions across taxa.
  • This variation illustrates how different molecular toolkits can result in similar complex systems, such as animal vision.

Conclusions:

  • The evolution of complex systems is characterized by 'deep diversity' rather than solely relying on homologous genes.
  • Candidate gene approaches from model organisms are a useful starting point but insufficient for fully understanding biodiversity.
  • Unbiased genome-wide comparisons and functional validation are essential to uncover unique genetic components in non-model organisms and advance our understanding of biodiversity and evolution.