Molecular physiological study on diversity of rhodopsins and their cooperative function.

在这项研究中，我们发现了一种新的视紫红质和一个新的光信号系统，它是眼睛发育最原始的动物之一，这表明视紫红质与光感受器细胞类型之间存在进化上的联系。我们还对低等脊椎动物松果体中的视紫红质进行了比较分析，认为脊椎动物的视色素可能促进光信号蛋白的分子进化。此外，我们对蜥蜴顶眼的分析表明，两种视紫红质在单个光感受器细胞中协同发挥作用。

In this study, we found a novel rhodopsin and a novel light-signaling system in eyes of cnidarian, which is one of most primitive animals withdeveloped eyes, suggesting an evolutional linkage between rhodopsins and photoreceptorcell-types. We also comparatively analyzed rhodopsins in pineal organs of lowervertebrates and suggested that vertebrate visual pigments might promote molecularevolution of light-signaling proteins. In addition, our analyses on lizard parietal eyessuggest that two kinds of rhodopsins co-operatively function in a single photoreceptor cell.