Data from: Light environment and seasonal variation in the visual system of the red shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis)

The light environment under water can vary dramatically over space and
time, challenging the visual systems of aquatic organisms. To meet these
challenges, many species shift their spectral sensitivities through
changes in visual pigment chromophore and opsin expression. The red shiner
(Cyprinella lutrensis) is a cyprinid minnow species that has rapidly
expanded its range throughout North America and inhabits a wide range of
aquatic habitats. We hypothesized that visual system plasticity has
contributed to the red shiner’s success. We investigated plasticity in
chromophore usage and opsin expression by collecting red shiners from
three Oklahoma creeks that vary in turbidity throughout the year. We
characterized the light environment by spectroradiometry, measured
chromophore composition of the eyes with high-performance liquid
chromatography, characterized CYP27C1 enzyme function through heterologous
expression, and examined ocular gene expression by RNA sequencing and de
novo transcriptome assembly. We observed significantly higher proportions
of the long-wavelength shifted A2 chromophore in the eyes of fish from the
turbid site and in samples collected in winter suggesting that there may
be a temperature-dependent trade-off between chromophore-based spectral
tuning and chromophore-related noise. Opsin expression varied between
turbid and clear creeks, but did not align with light environment as
expected and the magnitude of these differences was limited compared to
the differences in chromophore composition. We confirmed that red shiner
CYP27C1 catalyzes the conversion of A1 to A2, but the ocular expression of
CYP27C1 not well correlated with A2 levels in the eye suggesting
conversion may be occurring outside of the eye.