Animals rely on mechanosensory feedback from proprioceptors to control locomotory body movements. Unexpectedly, we found that this movement control requires visual opsins. Disrupting the Drosophila opsins NINAE or Rh6 impaired larval locomotion and body contractions, independently of light and vision. Opsins were detected in chordotonal proprioceptors along the larval body, localizing to their ciliated dendrites. Loss of opsins impaired mechanically evoked proprioceptor spiking and cilium ultrastructure. Without NINAE or Rh6, NOMPC mechanotransduction channels leaked from proprioceptor cilia and ciliary Inactive (Iav) channels partly disappeared. Locomotion is shown to require opsins in proprioceptors, and the receptors are found to express the opsin gene Rh7, in addition to ninaE and Rh6. Besides implicating opsins in movement control, this documents roles of non-ciliary, rhabdomeric opsins in cilium organization, providing a model for a key transition in opsin evolution and suggesting that structural roles of rhabdomeric opsins preceded their use for light detection.

中文翻译：

---

果蝇幼虫运动中的本体感受性视蛋白功能。

动物依靠本体感受器的机械感官反馈来控制机体的运动。出乎意料的是，我们发现此运动控件需要视觉视蛋白。破坏果蝇视蛋白NINAE或Rh6会损害幼虫的运动和身体收缩，而与光线和视觉无关。沿幼虫体在软骨素本体感受器中检测到视蛋白，定位于它们的纤毛树突。视蛋白的丢失损害了机械诱发的本体感受器尖峰和纤毛超微结构。没有NINAE或Rh6，从本体感受器纤毛泄漏的NOMPC机械转导通道和睫状非活动（Iav）通道部分消失。运动被证明需要本体感受器中的视蛋白，并且发现受体除了表达ninaE和Rh6外还表达视蛋白基因Rh7。除了将视蛋白牵涉到运动控制之外，