ANI
29 Jun 2022, 11:18 GMT+10
Toronto [Canada], June 29 (ANI): Tadpoles have a good underwater vision, but what happens when they develop into frogs and spend most of their time on land? In quest of the solution, scientists from York University and a number of other institutions discovered that tadpoles' eyes go through an unexpectedly large number of modifications.
The findings of the research were published in the journal 'BMC Biology'.
It's already known that tadpoles go through a physical metamorphosis on their way to becoming a frog, but what wasn't known is how their vision adapts at a molecular level across the life stages to a strikingly different environment.
York University Assistant Professor Ryan Schott, who studies the visual system of vertebrates in the Faculty of Science, along with an international team of researchers, examined the eyes of southern leopard frogs to find out if and how they changed.
"Seeing underwater is not the same as seeing on land. The light underwater can have more of a reddish cast, especially in ponds where many frogs live, while the light on land is bluer. The amount of light is also different underwater versus on land. Animals that see well in one environment will likely not see clearly in the other. We were interested in finding out what changes occur that allow an animal to go from seeing underwater to seeing on land," said Schott, who led the study and is the corresponding author.
"The adaptive decoupling hypothesis proposes that animals that have distinct life stages separated by metamorphosis, like caterpillars to butterflies or tadpoles to frogs, might be more able to adapt to their different environments."The researchers explored changes in gene expression in the eyes of leopard frog tadpoles and juvenile frogs using RNA sequencing, allowing them to see the levels of gene expression, or which genes were turned on in the eyes.
They also used microspectrophotometry to measure whether the photoreceptor cells in the eyes were more sensitive to the redder or bluer parts of the light spectrum at different life stages. These photoreceptor cells send light signals through the retina to the brain and are what allow animals, including humans, to see.
What they found surprised them. "The difference in the gene expression levels that we found in their eyes across the life stages was much higher than expected and a high proportion of them are genes that are directly involved in vision, which was an exciting result," said Schott.
They found that 42 per cent of genes in the eyes of tadpoles changed, and were differentially expressed, and they metamorphosized into a frog.
The team, including researchers from the Smithsonian Institution, Cornell University, The Natural History Museum in London, United Kingdom, the California Academy of Sciences, and the University of Texas at Arlington, also found the genes that control visual function and development, including spectral sensitivity and lens composition, changed the most.
The eyes of tadpoles had shifted and adapted to see better in a bluer light environment as they changed to a juvenile leopard frog - living and seeing on land - compared to the redder light environment of the freshwater habitat they live in as tadpoles. (ANI)
Get a daily dose of Calgary Monitor news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Calgary Monitor.
More InformationWith regular-season games dwindling and the chances of winning the Pacific Division slipping away, the Edmonton Oilers still are fighting ...
Islamabad - Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said Monday that a suicide bomb blast outside the foreign ministry in the capital, ...
The country would have continued to use the greenback but sanctions prevent it, the Russian leader has saidRussia's growing use ...
New York [US], March 27 (ANI): The UN Security Council on Monday will vote on a Russian-Chinese draft resolution on ...
Napyidaw [Myanmar], March 27 (ANI): In a grand display of forces, Myanmar's military Junta showcased a grand display of forces ...
Seoul - North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missile toward waters off its eastern coast Monday, adding to a recent ...
OTTAWA, Canada: After a meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US President Joe Biden, Ottawa has pledged to ...
With regular-season games dwindling and the chances of winning the Pacific Division slipping away, the Edmonton Oilers still are fighting ...
David Pastrnak scored twice in regulation to eclipse the 50-goal mark before Charlie Coyle and Jake DeBrusk tallied in the ...
Third-seeded Casper Ruud was the only upset victim on Sunday at the Miami Open, losing in three sets to Botic ...
Jarrett Allen recorded his 32nd double-double of the season and helped Cleveland stave off the visiting Houston Rockets 108-91 on ...
The Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova and 18th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia each recorded straight-set upsets on Sunday in the third ...