CLONING OF THE GENE ENCODING HONEYBEE LONG-WAVELENGTH RHODOPSIN - A NEW CLASS OF INSECT VISUAL PIGMENTS

Rhodopsins (Rh), G-protein-coupled receptors with seven transmembrane (TM) helices, form the first step in visual transduction in most organ isms. Although many long-wavelength (LW) vertebrate opsin sequences ar e known, less information is available for invertebrate LW sequences. By a combination of RT-PCR and cDNA library screening, we have cloned and sequenced the honeybee LW Rh gene. The deduced protein is composed of 378 amino acids (aa), appears to have seven TM regions, and contai ns many of the structures and key aa thought to be important for Rh fu nction. Phylogenetic analysis of this sequence in relation to other in vertebrate Rh reveals it to be a member of a new group of insect LW Rh .