Tbx2a Modulates Switching of RH2 and LWS Opsin Gene Expression

Abstract Sensory systems are tuned by selection to maximize organismal fitness in particular environments. This tuning has implications for intraspecies communication, the maintenance of species boundaries, and speciation. Tuning of color vision largely depends on the sequence of the expressed opsin proteins. To improve tuning of visual sensitivities to shifts in habitat or foraging ecology over the course of development, many organisms change which opsins are expressed. Changes in this developmental sequence (heterochronic shifts) can create differences in visual sensitivity among closely related species. The genetic mechanisms by which these developmental shifts occur are poorly understood. Here, we use quantitative trait locus analyses, genome sequencing, and gene expression studies in African cichlid fishes to identify a role for the transcription factor Tbx2a in driving a switch between long wavelength sensitive (LWS) and Rhodopsin-like (RH2) opsin expression. We identify binding sites for Tbx2a in the LWS promoter and the highly conserved locus control region of RH2 which concurrently promote LWS expression while repressing RH2 expression. We also present evidence that a single change in Tbx2a regulatory sequence has led to a species difference in visual tuning, providing the first mechanistic model for the evolution of rapid switches in sensory tuning. This difference in visual tuning likely has important roles in evolution as it corresponds to differences in diet, microhabitat choice, and male nuptial coloration.