Ultraviolet-sensitive vision in long-lived birds

Author:

Carvalho Livia S.1,Knott Ben23,Berg Mathew L.234,Bennett Andrew T. D.23,Hunt David M.15

Affiliation:

1. UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, 11-43 Bath Street, London EC1V 9EL, UK

2. School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG, UK

3. Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3217, Australia

4. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia

5. School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia

Abstract

Long-term exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light generates substantial damage, and in mammals, visual sensitivity to UV is restricted to short-lived diurnal rodents and certain marsupials. In humans, the cornea and lens absorb all UV-A and most of the terrestrial UV-B radiation, preventing the reactive and damaging shorter wavelengths from reaching the retina. This is not the case in certain species of long-lived diurnal birds, which possess UV-sensitive (UVS) visual pigments, maximally sensitive below 400 nm. The Order Psittaciformes contains some of the longest lived bird species, and the two species examined so far have been shown to possess UVS pigments. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of UVS pigments across long-lived parrots, macaws and cockatoos, and therefore assess whether they need to cope with the accumulated effects of exposure to UV-A and UV-B over a long period of time. Sequences from theSWS1opsin gene revealed that all 14 species investigated possess a key substitution that has been shown to determine a UVS pigment. Furthermore,in vitroregeneration data, and lens transparency, corroborate the molecular findings of UV sensitivity. Our findings thus support the claim that the Psittaciformes are the only avian Order in which UVS pigments are ubiquitous, and indicate that these long-lived birds have UV sensitivity, despite the risks of photodamage.

Publisher

The Royal Society

Subject

General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Environmental Science,General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine

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