How parrots see their colours: novelty in the visual pigments of Platycercus elegans
Ben Knott,Wayne I. L. Davies,Wayne I. L. Davies,Livia S. Carvalho,Mathew L. Berg,Mathew L. Berg,Katherine L. Buchanan,Katherine L. Buchanan,James K. Bowmaker,Andrew T. D. Bennett,Andrew T. D. Bennett,David M. Hunt,David M. Hunt +12 more
TLDR
This work provides the first complete characterisation of the visual pigments of a parrot, perhaps the most colourful order of birds, and suggests more variability in avian eyes than hitherto considered.Abstract:
Intraspecific differences in retinal physiology have been demonstrated in several vertebrate taxa and are often subject to adaptive evolution. Nonetheless, such differences are currently unknown in birds, despite variations in habitat, behaviour and visual stimuli that might influence spectral sensitivity. The parrot Platycercus elegans is a species complex with extreme plumage colour differences between (and sometimes within) subspecies, making it an ideal candidate for intraspecific differences in spectral sensitivity. Here, the visual pigments of P. elegans were fully characterised through molecular sequencing of five visual opsin genes and measurement of their absorbance spectra using microspectrophotometry. Three of the genes, LWS , SW1 and SWS2 , encode for proteins similar to those found in other birds; however, both the RH1 and RH2 pigments had polypeptides with carboxyl termini of different lengths and unusual properties that are unknown previously for any vertebrate visual pigment. Specifically, multiple RH2 transcripts and protein variants (short, medium and long) were identified for the first time that are generated by alternative splicing of downstream coding and non-coding exons. Our work provides the first complete characterisation of the visual pigments of a parrot, perhaps the most colourful order of birds, and moreover suggests more variability in avian eyes than hitherto considered.
* MSP
: microspectrophotometry
RACE
: rapid amplification of cDNA ends
λmax
: wavelength of peak absorbance spectraread more
Citations
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Coevolution of coloration and colour vision
TL;DR: Current understanding of the diversity of colour vision in two contrasting groups of birds, and the more variable butterflies is outlined, using colour vision modelling based on an avian eye to evaluate the effects of variation in three key characters.
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Subcellular optogenetics – controlling signaling and single-cell behavior
TL;DR: A set of optical triggers that allow subcellular control over signaling through the activation of G-protein-coupled receptors, receptor tyrosine kinases and downstream signaling proteins, as well as those that inhibit endogenous signaling proteins are focused on.
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Topographic specializations in the retinal ganglion cell layer correlate with lateralized visual behavior, ecology, and evolution in cockatoos.
TL;DR: It is found that all species studied possess a horizontal visual streak and a shallow central fovea that afford increased spatial resolution in the lateral visual field, and retinal ganglion cell peak densities in the dorsotemporal area showed no significant difference between left and right eyes for any species, suggesting that cockatoos use both eyes to extract information in the binocular visual field.
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How does nest-box temperature affect nestling growth rate and breeding success in a parrot?
Eliza R. Larson,Justin R. Eastwood,Katherine L. Buchanan,Andrew T. D. Bennett,Mathew L. Berg +4 more
TL;DR: It is found that less extreme low temperatures resulted in heavier nestlings; however, higher mean temperatures tended to result in lighter nestlings, and continued increases in mean temperature and variability may have negative consequences.
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Odour-based discrimination of subspecies, species and sexes in an avian species complex, the crimson rosella
TL;DR: The results indicate that P. e.
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