Table 1.
M/L photopigment peak absorbance and amino acid changes in the M/L opsin genes of representative primate genera. Haplotypes described in this study are in bold.
| Genus | Approximate Wavelength of Peak Light Absorbancea | Absorbance Tuning Site and Peak Absorbance Shift (nm)b | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exon 3 | Exon 4 | Exon 5 | |||||||||||||
| 530 nm | 535 nm | 543 nm | 550 nm | 556 nm | 562 nm | 180 | 197 | 229 | 230 | 233 | 277 | 285 | 308 | 309 | |
| A→S 6 | Y→H 28 | F→I 2 | I→T −2 | S→G 1 | F→Y 9 | A→T 15 | S→A 27 | Y→F −2 | |||||||
| Homo | X | S | H | I | I | A | Y | T | A | Y | |||||
| Alouatta | X | S | - | F | L | G | Y | T | A | Y | |||||
| Cebus | X | S | H | F | L | G | Y | T | A | Y | |||||
| Ateles | X | S | H | F | L | G | Y | T | A | Y | |||||
| Saguinus | X | S | H | F | L | G | Y | T | A | Y | |||||
| Callicebus | X | S | H | F | L | G | Y | T | A | Y | |||||
| Saguinus | X | A | H | F | L | S | Y | T | A | Y | |||||
| Propithecus | X | A | - | I | I | S | Y | T | A | Y | |||||
| Cebus | X | A | H | I | L | S | F | T | A | Y | |||||
| Ateles c | X | S | H | I | L | S | F | T | A | Y | |||||
| Callicebus | X | A | H | I | F | S | F | T | A | Y | |||||
| Saguinus | X | A | H | I | L | S | Y | A | A | Y | |||||
| Propithecus | X | A | - | I | I | S | Y | A | A | Y | |||||
| Callicebus | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Cebus | X | A | H | I | L | S | F | A | A | Y | |||||
| Callicebus | X | A | H | I | F | S | F | A | A | Y | |||||
| Homo | X | A | H | I | T | S | F | A | A | F | |||||
| Alouatta d | X | A | - | I | L | S | F | A | A | Y | |||||
| Callicebus | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||
In vivo absorbance measures for Homo: Stockman and Sharpe [2000]; Alouatta: Jacobs et al. [1996]; Cebus: Jacobs and Deegan [2003]; Ateles: Jacobs and Deegan [2001]; Saguinus Jacobs et al. [1987]; Propithecus: Jacobs et al. [2002]; Callicebus: Jacobs and Deegan [2005]. Note that in vivo absorbance measurements tend to yield peak estimates that are slightly longer than in vitro measurements of reconstituted photopigment [Jacobs 2007].
translated haplotypes for Homo: Nathans et al. [1986] (GenBank NM000513, NM020061); Alouatta: Hunt et al. [1998]; Cebus and Ateles: Hiramatsu et al. [2005] and Hiramatsu et al. [2008] (GenBank AB193772–84, AB193790, AB193796); Saguinus: Surridge and Mundy [2002] (GenBank AY142399–410); Propithecus: Tan and Li [1999] (GenBank AF431738–43); Callicebus: this study (GenBank GU002165-8), haplotypes tentatively matched with absorbances. Dashes indicate un-reported sequences. The Ateles 535 nm opsin reported by Riba-Hernandez et al. [2004] is excluded pending description. Amino acid sites in exons 3, 4, and 5 determined to be important to photopigment tuning in primates (and mammals): bold and underlined, Neitz et al. [1991]; bold, Yokoyama and Radlwimmer [2001]; underlined, Shyue et al. [1998]; plain, Asenjo et al. [1994]. Approximate shifts in peak absorbance corresponding to amino acid changes are taken from the above references and are shown directly below the site number. Absorbance shifts are approximately additive and reversible, except for sites 230 and 309, where reversing the direction of the amino acid change has a negligible effect on pigment absorbance [Asenjo et al. 1994]. Asenjo et al. [1994] report a non-reversible 3 nm shift for Y116S, but this site in exon 2 was not sequenced in the present study.
Hiramatsu et al. [2008] suggest that this Ateles haplotype likely corresponds to the approximately 550 nm peak absorbance variant reported by Jacobs and Deegan [2001]. There is also evidence that this haplotype occurs in Cebus [Soares et al. 2010].
It is currently unclear which sites differentiate the presumed Alouatta 530 nm gene fromthe Cebus 535 nm allele.