DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Evolution of Avian Photopigments: From Opsin Sequences to Color Vision

如何解释自然界以及人类和其他动物颜色的多样性？对色彩美的欣赏？现在有可能通过使用基因分析来研究与色觉有关的分子的差异，从而研究不同物种如何看待颜色，从而推进我们对这一点的理解。这个项目调查了不同种类的鸟类对颜色的感知是否不同，以及这是否可以解释为什么不同种类的鸟类进化出了截然不同的羽毛颜色。例如，如果一只鸟是红色的，另一只是蓝色的，这是否与对红色和蓝色的感知差异有关？这个问题正在通过研究多种莺的视蛋白来解决，这些莺的颜色模式差异很大。视蛋白是调节包括人类在内的所有脊椎动物视觉的关键光吸收分子。这个项目结合了视蛋白基因的测序，并在实验室中重建视蛋白，通过计算机建模来发现不同种类的鸟类对颜色的感知是否不同，并确定这种差异的潜在原因。了解视蛋白的变化是否与观察到的羽毛颜色差异有关，将使我们对物种多样化的进化过程以及我们在动物世界中看到的惊人的颜色多样性的起源有重要的了解。此外，由于视蛋白也负责人类的视觉，解剖视觉变化的分子基础可以帮助我们理解色盲和其他色觉障碍。

What explains the diversity of color in nature, and both our and other animals? great appreciation for beauty in color? Now it is possible to advance our understanding of this through the use of genetic analyses that investigate differences in the molecules involved in color vision and thus, in how color is viewed by different species. This project investigates whether different species of birds perceive color differently, and whether this could explain why different species of birds have evolved dramatically different plumage colors. For example, if one bird is red and one is blue, is this associated with differences in perception of red and of blue? This question is being addressed by studying the opsins from multiple species of warblers, which vary greatly in their color patterns. Opsin proteins are the critical light-absorbing molecules that modulate vision in all vertebrates, including humans. This project combines sequencing of opsin genes, and recreating opsins proteins in the laboratory, with computer modeling to find out whether different species of birds perceive color differently and identify the underlying causes of such differences.Understanding whether changes in opsins are responsible for the observed plumage color differences will give us important insight into the evolutionary processes that gave rise to species diversification and into the origins of the spectacular diversity of colors we see in the animal world. Moreover, since opsins are also responsible for vision in humans, dissecting the molecular bases for changes in vision could help us understand color-blindness and other color vision disorders.