Cellular and molecular evolutionary mechanisms of retinal cells governing color vision perception

Insights into the cellular and molecular evolutionary mechanisms of retinal cells that govern color vision perception across various species are limited. In this study, we established a single-cell prediction (scPred) model to construct an atlas of single-cell retinas from multiple species and subsequently analyzed interspecies variations in the retinal cells of 24 different species. We identified conserved compositions and expression profiles of retinal cells, with photoreceptor cells, including rods, showing dynamic changes from lower to higher species. Moreover, we observed marked interspecies variations in opsin expression patterns and core transcriptional programs that regulate color vision in rods and cones. We also identified distinct cell metabolism patterns and key transcription factors influencing the cell functional difference of different cone types. Notably, our findings indicated an association between fatty acid biosynthesis and OPN1SW+ cones and OPN1MW+ cones, as well as an association between FOXO3 and OPN1LW+ cones across species.