invertebrate Gq opsins, member of the class A family of seven-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptors
The invertebrate Gq-coupled opsin subfamily includes the arthropod and mollusc visual opsins. Like the vertebrate visual opsins, arthropods possess color vision by the use of multiple opsins sensitive to different light wavelengths. The invertebrate Gq opsins are closely related to the vertebrate melanopsins, the primary photoreceptor molecules for non-visual responses to light, and the R1-R6 photoreceptors, which are the fly equivalent to the vertebrate rods. The Gq opsins belong the class A of the G protein-coupled receptors and possess seven-transmembrane (TM) alpha-helices interconnected by three extracellular and three intracellular loops.