Phyllis Robinson

Biography

Currently working in The University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA

Research Interest

The aim of my research is to understand how information in the environment is transformed into an appropriate biological signal. I study this problem of signal transduction in photoreceptors for they are accessible to a variety of techniques, providing a system in which it is possible to interface the approaches of biochemistry, molecular biology and physiology. One interest of my laboratory is to elucidate the mechanisms of activation and deactivation of vertebrate visual pigments. Our approach is to use the tools of molecular biology in concert with in vitro biochemistry to explore the details of these mechanisms. At present we are focusing on the role of phosphorylation in the inactivation of the rod specific visual pigment, rhodopsin. A second interest of my laboratory is the evolution of color vision in aquatic mammals and mechanisms of spectral tuning in color opsins. We have recently discovered that cetaceans do not have dichromatic color vision that is typically found in diurnal terrestrial mammals. We are currently investigating the role of color vision in pinnipeds and manatees.