Lei Zheng

TL;DR: The isolation of VA opsin from chicken is reported and it is shown that the two isoforms spliced from this gene (cVAL and cVA) are capable of forming functional photopigments and strongly implicateVA opsin in mediating the avian photoperiodic response.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors reported the isolation of VA opsin from chicken and showed that the two isoforms spliced fromthis gene (cVAL and cVA) are capable of forming functional photopigments.

TL;DR: This study has revealed a remarkable number and diversity of photopigments in zebrafish, the largest number so far discovered for any vertebrate, and Spectral and electrophysiological analyses of the new opsins demonstrate that they form functional photopIGments, each with unique chromophore-binding and wavelength specificities.

TL;DR: Electrophysiological and spectrophotometric studies demonstrate that all five zebrafish melanopsins encode a functional photopigment with peak spectral sensitivities that range from 470 to 484 nm, and reveal the presence of both invertebrate-like and vertebrates-like forms of melanopsin in the teleost retina, and indicate that photopIGment bistability is not a universal property of the melanopsIN family.

TL;DR: Two isoforms of melanopsin are identified from the mouse Opn4 locus, a previously described long isoform (Opn4L) and a novel short isoform that more closely resembles the sequence and structure of rat and human melanopsins.