Sensitivity to ultraviolet light (UV) is achieved by photoreceptors in the eye that contain a class of visual pigments maximally sensitive to light at wavelengths <400 nm. It is widespread in the animal kingdom where it is used for mate choice, communication and foraging for food. UV sensitivity is not, however, a constant feature of the visual system, and in many vertebrate species, the UV-sensitive (UVS) pigment is replaced by a violet-sensitive (VS) pigment with maximal sensitivity between 410 and 435 nm. The role of protonation of the Schiff base-chromophore linkage and the mechanism for tuning of pigments into the UV is discussed in detail. Amino acid sequence analysis of vertebrate VS/UVS pigments indicates that the ancestral pigment was UVS, with loss of UV sensitivity occurring separately in mammals, amphibia and birds, and subsequently regained by a single amino acid substitution in certain bird species. In contrast, no loss of UV sensitivity has occurred in the UVS pigments of insects.
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Received 22 February 2001; received after revision 11 May 2001; accepted 15 May 2001
Hunt, D., Wilkie, S., Bowmaker, J. et al. Vision in the ultraviolet. CMLS, Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 58, 1583–1598 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00000798
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00000798