Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA.
LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics, Frankfurt, Germany.
Genome Biol Evol. 2024 Sep 3;16(9). doi: 10.1093/gbe/evae185.
Insects have evolved complex and diverse visual systems in which light-sensing protein molecules called "opsins" couple with a chromophore to form photopigments. Insect photopigments group into three major gene families based on wavelength sensitivity: long wavelength (LW), short wavelength (SW), and ultraviolet wavelength (UV). In this study, we identified 123 opsin sequences from whole-genome assemblies across 25 caddisfly species (Insecta: Trichoptera). We discovered the LW opsins have the most diversity across species and form two separate clades in the opsin gene tree. Conversely, we observed a loss of the SW opsin in half of the trichopteran species in this study, which might be associated with the fact that caddisflies are active during low-light conditions. Lastly, we found a single copy of the UV opsin in all the species in this study, with one exception: Athripsodes cinereus has two copies of the UV opsin and resides within a clade of caddisflies with colorful wing patterns.
昆虫已经进化出复杂多样的视觉系统，其中称为“视蛋白”的光感蛋白分子与发色团结合形成光色素。昆虫光色素根据波长敏感性分为三大基因家族：长波（LW）、短波（SW）和紫外线（UV）。在这项研究中，我们从 25 种石蛾物种（昆虫纲：蜉蝣目）的全基因组组装中鉴定出 123 个视蛋白序列。我们发现 LW 视蛋白在物种间具有最多的多样性，并在视蛋白基因树中形成两个独立的分支。相反，我们观察到在本研究的一半蜉蝣目中失去了 SW 视蛋白，这可能与石蛾在低光条件下活跃有关。最后，我们在本研究中的所有物种中都发现了一个 UV 视蛋白的副本，只有一个例外：Athripsodes cinereus 有两个 UV 视蛋白副本，并且位于具有彩色翅膀图案的石蛾类群中。
