Abstract
There has been considerable debate whether the opsin genes of several 'blind' animals code for functional photopigments, and if so, what physiological responses these photopigments may mediate1. We report the first isolation and in vitro expression of a functional cone-like photopigment from the highly degenerate eye of a visually blind fossorial mammal, the blind mole rat (Spalax ehrenbergi). Furthermore, we show that this photopigment mediates the effects of light on circadian behavior in this species.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Corné Klaassen and Petra Bovee for help with baculovirus expression and purification of Spalax LWS opsin and Rosalie Crouch for providing 11-cis retinal. This research was partially supported by grants from HPSP and EU BioMed to R.G.F. and W.dG., and the Wellcome Trust to R.G.F.
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David-Gray, Z., Janssen, J., DeGrip, W. et al. Light detection in a 'blind' mammal. Nat Neurosci 1, 655–656 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/3656
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/3656