| Grant number: | 14/25743-9 |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral |
| Start date: | March 01, 2015 |
| End date: | October 31, 2019 |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Genetics |
| Agreement: | Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) |
| Principal Investigator: | Dora Selma Fix Ventura |
| Grantee: | Einat Hauzman |
| Host Institution: | Instituto de Psicologia (IP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil |
| Associated research grant: | 14/26818-2 - Development and implementation of visual evaluation methods: clinical applications and animal models, AP.TEM |
| Associated scholarship(s): | 18/09321-8 - In vitro expression and spectral absorption measurements of the SWS1 photopigment of the Colubridae snake Helicops modestus, BE.EP.PD |
Abstract This project aims to answer important questions about the genetic and morphology of snakes retinas and continue the work of the PhD Einat Hauzman. Despite the great diversity of species of snakes, few studies have evaluated the specializations of their sensorial systems. During the student master's (Fapesp 2006/58514-6) were analyzed the density and distribution of photoreceptor and the ganglion cell layer cells (GCL) of two species of diurnal snakes. In the PhD project (Fapesp 2010/51670-8), the photoreceptors and GCL cells were quantified in retinas of 20 species of diurnal and nocturnal snakes, and the visual pigments genes were sequenced from the mRNA of retinas of 17 species. The different photoreceptor types were labeled by immunohistochemistry, using antibodies against opsins sensitive to short wavelengths, which labeled UV cones in snakes retinas (SWS1 opsin group), and against opsins sensitive to long wavelengths, which labeled L cones (LWS opsin group). The photopigment Rh1 expressed in snakes' retinas could not be labeled by any antibody. In this study, a specific antibody against the Rh1 photopigment will be produced and used to analyze the density and distribution of photoreceptors containing this visual pigment. Double or triple labeling with different anti-opsin antibodies will be carried out to analyze the opsins coexpression in a same photoreceptor and to quantify the different types of cones in a same retina. In this project, will also be analyzed the expression of the melanopsin genes, photopigment present in neurons of the inner retina, responsible for receiving luminous information from the environment and generate a variety of responses to light, that includes the regulation of circadian rhythms and the pupillary reflex. (AU) | |
| News published in Agência FAPESP Newsletter about the scholarship: | |
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