BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 November 2010 Eye Adaptation to Different Light Environments in Two Populations of Mysis relicta: A Comparative Study of Carotenoids and Retinoids
Tatiana Feldman, Marina Yakovleva, Magnus Lindström, Kristian Donner, Mikhail Ostrovsky
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The content of carotenoids and retinoids was compared in the eyes of two Finnish populations of the opossum shrimp, Mysis relicta, which have been reproductively isolated for at least 9000 years: one from the deep, dark, Lake Pääjärvi, the other from the Baltic Sea (Pojoviken Bay). The eyes of the lake population (LP) are highly susceptible to light damage, while those of the sea population (SP) are more resistant. Carotenoids are known to act as antioxidants protecting cells against free radicals and reactive oxygen species; retinoids, on the contrary, may be phototoxic in certain conditions. Analyzed by spectrophotometry and HPLC, the carotenoid content was broadly similar in the eyes of the two populations as regards both total amount and relative proportions of more than 20 components. Noteworthy differences were found in only three of the major components, among these astaxanthin, which was two times higher in SP compared with LP. The most interesting finding was the 1.6-fold higher content of retinoids in LP compared with SP, with retinol as the dominant component (40% of total) in both populations. Retinol is a precursor of the visual-pigment chromophore retinal. The result is consistent with the idea that animals inhabiting extremely dim light environments, where very little photoregeneration of metarhodopsin to rhodopsin can occur, need a large store of chromophore (or precursors) for effective “dark” regeneration of visual pigment. We suggest that almost all the rhodopsin is then in the native state and massive pigment activation following exposure to stronger light may trigger photoreceptor damage. If such animals are handled without due light protection, e.g., when transferred to a new habitat or collected for biological experiments, their vision will be severely impaired.

Tatiana Feldman, Marina Yakovleva, Magnus Lindström, Kristian Donner, and Mikhail Ostrovsky "Eye Adaptation to Different Light Environments in Two Populations of Mysis relicta: A Comparative Study of Carotenoids and Retinoids," Journal of Crustacean Biology 30(4), 636-642, (1 November 2010). https://doi.org/10.1651/09-3218.1
Received: 16 September 2009; Accepted: 1 February 2010; Published: 1 November 2010
JOURNAL ARTICLE
7 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
antioxidants
compound eye
light damage
photo-protection
visual cycle
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top