The role of gene duplication and unconstrained selective pressures in the melanopsin gene family evolution and vertebrate circadian rhythm regulation.

Melanopsin is a photosensitive cell protein involved in regulating circadian rhythms and other non-visual responses to light. The melanopsin gene family is represented by two paralogs, OPN4x and OPN4m, which originated through gene duplication early in the emergence of vertebrates. Here we studied t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rui Borges, Warren E Johnson, Stephen J O'Brien, Vitor Vasconcelos, Agostinho Antunes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3528684?pdf=render