Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 114, Issue 28, Pages 7385-7390Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1705765114
Keywords
visual pigment; protein evolution; G protein-coupled receptor; Andean catfishes; in vitro expression
Categories
Funding
- National Sciences and Engineering Research Council
- Vision Science Research Program Scholarships
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- National Science Foundation [OISE-1064578]
- Coypu Foundation
- National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration Grant [8721-09]
- International Sportfish Fund
- Explorer's Club of New York
- Royal Ontario Museum
Ask authors/readers for more resources
High-altitude environments present a range of biochemical and physiological challenges for organisms through decreases in oxygen, pressure, and temperature relative to lowland habitats. Protein-level adaptations to hypoxic high-altitude conditions have been identified in multiple terrestrial endotherms; however, comparable adaptations in aquatic ectotherms, such as fishes, have not been as extensively characterized. In enzyme proteins, cold adaptation is attained through functional trade-offs between stability and activity, often mediated by substitutions outside the active site. Little is known whether signaling proteins [e.g., G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)] exhibit natural variation in response to cold temperatures. Rhodopsin (RH1), the temperature-sensitive visual pigment mediating dim-light vision, offers an opportunity to enhance our understanding of thermal adaptation in a model GPCR. Here, we investigate the evolution of rhodopsin function in an Andean mountain catfish system spanning a range of elevations. Using molecular evolutionary analyses and site-directed mutagenesis experiments, we provide evidence for cold adaptation in RH1. We find that unique amino acid substitutions occur at sites under positive selection in high-altitude catfishes, located at opposite ends of the RH1 intramolecular hydrogen-bonding network. Natural high-altitude variants introduced into these sites via mutagenesis have limited effects on spectral tuning, yet decrease the stability of dark-state and light-activated rhodopsin, accelerating the decay of ligand-bound forms. As found in cold-adapted enzymes, this phenotype likely compensates for a cold-induced decrease in kinetic rates-properties of rhodopsin that mediate rod sensitivity and visual performance. Our results support a role for natural variation in enhancing the performance of GPCRs in response to cold temperatures.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available