Pigment gene expression in protan color vision defects
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Updated: Oct 26, 2026

Electrophysiological Methods for Measuring Photopigment Levels in Drosophila Photoreceptors
Published on: June 2, 2022
S D Balding1, S A Sjoberg, J Neitz
1Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53226, USA.
Abstract:
We screened 150 male eye donors and identified four who did not have or express L pigment genes, consistent with each of them having a congenital protan color vision defect. One donor was identified as a protanope because he had and expressed a single X-chromosome photopigment gene that encoded an M pigment. Three were categorized as protanomalous because each expressed significant levels of genes specifying two spectrally different M pigments. The first gene in each of the protanomalous arrays was expressed the most and encoded an M pigment that differed in amino acid sequence from M pigments in color normal men.
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