Marine Biology Commons^™

Opsin Repertoire And Expression Patterns In Horseshoe Crabs: Evidence From The Genome Of Limulus Polyphemus (Arthropoda: Chelicerata), Barbara-Anne Battelle, Joseph F. Ryan, Karen E. Kempler, Spencer R. Saraf, Catherine E. Marten, Wesley C. Warren, Patrick J. Minx, Michael J. Montague, Pamela J. Green, Skye A. Schmidt, Lucinda Fulton, Nipam H. Patel, Meredith E. Protas, Richard K. Wilson, Megan L. Porter

Meredith Protas

Horseshoe crabs are xiphosuran chelicerates, the sister groupto arachnids. As such, they are important for understandingthemost recent common ancestor of Euchelicerata and the evolution and diversification of Arthropoda. Limulus polyphemus is the most investigated of the four extant species of horseshoe crabs, and the structure and function of its visual system have long been a major focus of studies critical for understanding the evolution of visual systems in arthropods. Likewise, studies of genes encoding Limulus opsins, the protein component of the visual pigments, are critical for understanding opsin evolution and diversification among chelicerates, where knowledge of opsins is limited, and …