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Sequence analysis and expression patterns of opsin genes in the longtooth grouper Epinephelus bruneus

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Abstract

Here, to evaluate ontogenic changes in visual sensitivity in juvenile longtooth grouper Epinephelus bruneus, we investigated opsin gene sequences and expression in larvae and juveniles. The longtooth grouper has 10 opsin genes: Rh1, five Rh2 genes (Rh2A1-1, Rh2A1-2, Rh2A2, g6738, and g6740), SWS1, two SWS2 genes (SWS2A1 and SWS2A2), and LWS. To date, five or six Rh2 opsin genes have been reported in perciform fishes. Differential opsin gene expression was examined by RT-PCR; the results suggested that switching from SWS1 to SWS2 occurs during early development, and that there is an absence of LWS expression between 14 and 40 days post-hatch. These ontogenetic changes in opsin gene expression may correspond to different requirements at different life stages.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the students of the Department of Fisheries and the Graduate School of Agriculture, Kinki University, for their assistance during the experiment. This study was supported, in part, by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), KAKENHI grant number 26450271, and a Strategic Research Foundation Grant-aided Project for Private Universities from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology, Japan (MEXT), 2014–2016 (S1412003). This research complied with the current laws in Japan and the Ethical Justification for the Use and Treatment of Fishes in Research: an Update [40].

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  1. Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture, Kinki University, Nara, 631-8505, Japan

    Taro Matsumoto & Yasunori Ishibashi

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  1. Taro Matsumoto
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Correspondence to Yasunori Ishibashi.

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Matsumoto, T., Ishibashi, Y. Sequence analysis and expression patterns of opsin genes in the longtooth grouper Epinephelus bruneus . Fish Sci 82, 17–27 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-015-0936-x

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