The evolution of eye has been a hotly debated subject. In both vertebrates and invertebrates, opsins play a key role in vision. The origin of vision is traced to a proto-eye believed to have evolved some 540 million years ago, in a common ancestor that we share with almost all vertebrates.
Now, a new study conducted by the National University of Ireland Maynooth and the University of Bristol suggests that opsins, the light-sensitive proteins, may have evolved earlier and undergone fewer genetic changes than previously believed.
Using computer modeling, the researchers tested every hypothesis of opsin evolution proposed to date, incorporating all available genomic information from all relevant animal lineages.
Based on the analysis, the researchers have traced the evolution of vision to an opsin ancestor common to all groups appearing some 700 million years ago. According to the researchers, this opsin was considered 'blind' yet underwent key genetic changes over the span of 11 million years that conveyed the ability to detect light.
Commenting on the study findings, Davide Pisani of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences said, "The great relevance of our study is that we traced the earliest origin of vision and we found that it originated only once in animals. This is an astonishing discovery because it implies that our study uncovered, in consequence, how and when vision evolved in humans."
The study was published October 29 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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