Kingston Alexandra C. N.

No Thumbnail Available
Last Name
Kingston
First Name
Alexandra C. N.
ORCID

Filters

2015 3
3
Reset filters

Settings

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Dataset
    An unexpected diversity of photoreceptor classes in the Longfin squid, Doryteuthis pealeii
    ( 2015-07-10) Kingston, Alexandra C. N. ; Wardill, Trevor J. ; Hanlon, Roger T. ; Cronin, Thomas W.
    Cephalopods are famous for their ability to change color and pattern rapidly for signaling and camouflage. They have keen eyes and remarkable vision, made possible by photoreceptors in their retinas. External to the eyes, photoreceptors also exist in parolfactory vesicles and some light organs, where they function using a rhodopsin protein that is identical to that expr essed in the retina. Furthermore, dermal chromatophore organs contain rhodopsin and other components of phototransduction (including retinochrome, a photoisomerase first found in the retina), suggesting that they are photoreceptive. In this study, we used a modified whole - mount immunohistochemical technique to explore rhodopsin and retinochrome expression in a number of tissues and organs in the longfin squid, Doryteuthis pealeii. We found that fin central muscles, hair cells (epithelial primary sensory neu rons), arm axial ganglia, and sucker peduncle nerves all express rhodopsin and retinochrome proteins. Our findings indicate that these animals possess an unexpected diversity of extraocular photoreceptors and suggest that extraocular photoreception using v isual opsins and visual phototransduction machinery is far more widespread throughout cephalopod tissues than previously recognized.
  • Preprint
    Visual phototransduction components in cephalopod chromatophores suggest dermal photoreception
    ( 2015-04) Kingston, Alexandra C. N. ; Kuzirian, Alan M. ; Hanlon, Roger T. ; Cronin, Thomas W.
    Cephalopod molluscs are renowned for their colorful and dynamic body patterns, produced by an assemblage of skin components that interact with light. These may include iridophores, leucophores, chromatophores, and (in some species) photophores. Here, we present molecular evidence suggesting that cephalopod chromatophores, small dermal pigmentary organs that reflect various colors of light, are photosensitive. RT-PCR revealed the presence of transcripts encoding rhodopsin and retinochrome within the retinas and skin of the squid Doryteuthis pealeii, and the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis and Sepia latimanus. In D. pealeii, Gqα and squid TRP channel transcripts were present in the retina and in all dermal samples. Rhodopsin, retinochrome, and Gqα transcripts were also found in RNA extracts from dissociated chromatophores isolated from D. pealeii dermal tissues. In D. pealeii, immunohistochemical staining labeled rhodopsin, retinochrome, and Gqα proteins in several chromatophore components, including pigment cell membranes, radial muscle fibers, and sheath cells. This is the first evidence that cephalopod dermal tissues, and specifically chromatophores, may possess the requisite combination of molecules required to respond to light.
  • Article
    An unexpected diversity of photoreceptor classes in the longfin squid, Doryteuthis pealeii
    (Public Library of Science, 2015-09-09) Kingston, Alexandra C. N. ; Wardill, Trevor J. ; Hanlon, Roger T. ; Cronin, Thomas W.
    Cephalopods are famous for their ability to change color and pattern rapidly for signaling and camouflage. They have keen eyes and remarkable vision, made possible by photoreceptors in their retinas. External to the eyes, photoreceptors also exist in parolfactory vesicles and some light organs, where they function using a rhodopsin protein that is identical to that expressed in the retina. Furthermore, dermal chromatophore organs contain rhodopsin and other components of phototransduction (including retinochrome, a photoisomerase first found in the retina), suggesting that they are photoreceptive. In this study, we used a modified whole-mount immunohistochemical technique to explore rhodopsin and retinochrome expression in a number of tissues and organs in the longfin squid, Doryteuthis pealeii. We found that fin central muscles, hair cells (epithelial primary sensory neurons), arm axial ganglia, and sucker peduncle nerves all express rhodopsin and retinochrome proteins. Our findings indicate that these animals possess an unexpected diversity of extraocular photoreceptors and suggest that extraocular photoreception using visual opsins and visual phototransduction machinery is far more widespread throughout cephalopod tissues than previously recognized.