Pigmentary function and evolution of tyrp1 gene duplicates in fish
Summary The function of the tyrosinase‐related protein 1 (Tyrp1) has not yet been investigated in vertebrates basal to tetrapods. Teleost fishes have two duplicates of the tyrp1 gene. Here, we show that the teleost tyrp1 duplicates have distributed the ancestral gene expression in the retinal pigmen...
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Published in | Pigment cell and melanoma research Vol. 22; no. 6; pp. 839 - 850 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Oxford, UK
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
01.12.2009
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Summary
The function of the tyrosinase‐related protein 1 (Tyrp1) has not yet been investigated in vertebrates basal to tetrapods. Teleost fishes have two duplicates of the tyrp1 gene. Here, we show that the teleost tyrp1 duplicates have distributed the ancestral gene expression in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and melanophores in a species‐specific manner. In medaka embryos, tyrp1a expression is found in the RPE and in melanophores while tyrp1b is only expressed in melanophores. In zebrafish embryos, expression of tyrp1 paralogs overlaps in the RPE and in melanophores. Knockdown of each zebrafish tyrp1 duplicate alone does not show pigmentary defects, but simultaneous knockdown of both tyrp1 genes results in the formation of brown instead of black eumelanin accompanied by severe melanosome defects. Our study suggests that the brown melanosome color in Tyrp1‐deficient vertebrates is an effect of altered eumelanin synthesis. Black eumelanin formation essentially relies on the presence of Tyrp1 and some of its function is most likely conserved from the common ancestor of bony vertebrates. |
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Bibliography: | istex:9B26EC70A25051A0FF2E793A728020909FE7E058 ark:/67375/WNG-T2274XMD-X ArticleID:PCMR614 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1755-1471 1755-148X |
DOI: | 10.1111/j.1755-148X.2009.00614.x |