A New Form of Inherited Red-Blindness Identified in Zebrafish

• Published in: The Journal of neuroscience Vol. 17; no. 11; pp. 4236 - 4242
• Main Authors: Brockerhoff, Susan E, Hurley, James B, Niemi, Gregory A, Dowling, John E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Soc Neuroscience 01.06.1997; Society for Neuroscience
• Subjects: Animals; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Cell Nucleus - physiology; Color Vision Defects - genetics; Genotype; In Situ Hybridization; Larva - physiology; Mutagenesis - physiology; Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells - chemistry; Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells - physiology; RNA, Messenger - analysis; Rod Opsins - genetics; Zebrafish - genetics
• ISSN: 0270-6474; 1529-2401
• DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.17-11-04236.1997

A red-blind zebrafish mutant, partial optokinetic response b (pob), has been isolated by measuring eye movements of larvae in a three-generation screen for recessive mutations affecting the visual system. pob larvae exhibit eye movements in response to rotating black and white stripes illuminated with white light, but they do not move their eyes when the stripes are illuminated with red light. Physiological, immunohistochemical, and in situ hybridization analyses of pob retinas showed a selective loss of red-sensitive cones at 5 days postfertilization (dpf). At 3 dpf, cells expressing red opsin are present, suggesting that red-sensitive cones form initially but then disappear rapidly, whereas other photoreceptors remain. Linkage analysis indicated that the mutation identified in the pob mutant is not at the red opsin locus. Because red opsin is the only known molecule unique to red cones, these data suggest that a novel gene is required for the maintenance or function of red cones.