Spectral-tuning mechanisms of marine mammal rhodopsins and correlations with foraging depth

It has been observed that deep-foraging marine mammals have Visual pigments that are blue shifted in terms of their wavelength of maximal absorbance (lambda (max)) when compared to analogous pigments from terrestrial mammals. The mechanisms underlying the spectral tuning of two of these blue-shifted pigments have recently been elucidated and depend on three amino acid substitutions ((83)Asn, (292)Ser, and (299)Ser) in dolphin rhodopsin, but only one amino acid substitution ((308)Ser) in the dolphin long-wavelength-sensitive pigment. The objective of this study was to investigate the molecular basis for changes in the spectral sensitivity of rod visual pigments from seven distantly related marine mammals. The results show a relationship between blue-shifted rhodopsins (lambda (max) less than or equal to 490 nm), deep-diving foraging behavior, and the substitutions (83)Asn and (292)Ser. Species that forage primarily near the surface in coastal habitats have a rhodopsin with a lambda (max) similar to that of terrestrial mammals (500 nm) and possess the substitutions (83)Asp and (292)Ala, identical to rhodopsins from terrestrial mammals.