Poster or Presentation Title
Study of the visual adaptation mechanism in marine species with the change of habitation depth.
Advisor(s)
Mikhail N. Ryazantsev
Dmitrii M. Nikolaev
Abstract
The goal of our work was to determine the principal mechanisms that provide the difference in visual perception of two marine species that live on different depths: T. Pacificus and O. Vulgaris. In nature, visual perception of species that live deeper is shifted towards the blue region. This is related to the fact that red, orange and yellow light is absorbed more strongly by water than the blue light. On the other hand, the visual perception spectrum of an animal is determined by the absorption spectrum of the "light sensor" located in rods and cones of its eye retina. These "light sensors" are proteins from the rhodopsin family, which generate an electrical signal upon light absorption. Thus, in order to understand the mechanism of visual adaptation one has to study the molecular difference between the corresponding rhodopsins of the target species. We proposed new algorithms for exploring this molecular difference based on methodology from computational biophysics and quantum chemistry. These algorithms allowed us to predict the absorption maxima of visual proteins on the basis of their amino acid sequence. First, we tested these algorithms by predicting the absorption maxima of visual rhodopsins from several species. Second, we calculated the structures and absorption maxima of wild types and mutants of two rhodopsins of the target species. These calculations allowed us to determine the key mutation that is responsible for the spectral shift between two rhodopsins and determine the molecular mechanism of visual adaptation between two target marine species.
Included in
Biological and Chemical Physics Commons, Biophysics Commons, Evolution Commons, Other Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons
Study of the visual adaptation mechanism in marine species with the change of habitation depth.
The goal of our work was to determine the principal mechanisms that provide the difference in visual perception of two marine species that live on different depths: T. Pacificus and O. Vulgaris. In nature, visual perception of species that live deeper is shifted towards the blue region. This is related to the fact that red, orange and yellow light is absorbed more strongly by water than the blue light. On the other hand, the visual perception spectrum of an animal is determined by the absorption spectrum of the "light sensor" located in rods and cones of its eye retina. These "light sensors" are proteins from the rhodopsin family, which generate an electrical signal upon light absorption. Thus, in order to understand the mechanism of visual adaptation one has to study the molecular difference between the corresponding rhodopsins of the target species. We proposed new algorithms for exploring this molecular difference based on methodology from computational biophysics and quantum chemistry. These algorithms allowed us to predict the absorption maxima of visual proteins on the basis of their amino acid sequence. First, we tested these algorithms by predicting the absorption maxima of visual rhodopsins from several species. Second, we calculated the structures and absorption maxima of wild types and mutants of two rhodopsins of the target species. These calculations allowed us to determine the key mutation that is responsible for the spectral shift between two rhodopsins and determine the molecular mechanism of visual adaptation between two target marine species.