The co-expression of visual pigments in a single photoreceptor: environmental regulation and spectral tuning

脊椎动物视网膜中的感光细胞（光感受器）含有过滤器（油滴）和视色素（视蛋白）。这些结构分别调节入射光和启动视觉过程。令人兴奋的新研究表明，一些脊椎动物在一个光感受器中表达一种以上的视蛋白。我们计划通过操纵光环境来研究单个和两个共表达的视蛋白基因的调节。我们希望确定视觉色素调节的环境触发因素以及共同表达对色觉的影响。

The light sensitive cells (photoreceptors) in the vertebrate retina contain filters (oil droplets) and visual pigments (opsins). These structures tune the incoming light and initiate the visual process, respectively. Exciting new research reveals that some vertebrates express more than one opsin within a single photoreceptor. We plan to examine the regulation of single and two co-expressed opsin genes by manipulating the light environment. We expect to determine the environmental triggers for visual pigment tuning and the effects of co-expression on colour vision.