PUBLICATION
Determining Photoreceptor Cell Identity: Rod Versus Cone Fate Governed by tbx2b Opposing nrl
- Authors
- Neil, G.J., Kluttig, K.H., Allison, W.T.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-240124-5
- Date
- 2024
- Source
- Investigative ophthalmology & visual science 65: 3939 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Allison, Ted
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Zebrafish*
- Zebrafish Proteins*/genetics
- Mutation
- Phenotype
- Transcription Factors*/genetics
- PubMed
- 38261312 Full text @ Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci.
Abstract
Purpose NRL is an influential transcription factor and central to animal modeling in ophthalmology. Disrupting NRL abrogates rod development and produces an excess of S-cones (also known as "UV cones" or "short-wavelength-sensitive1 [SWS1] cones"). Strikingly, mutations in zebrafish tbx2b produce the exact opposite phenotypes (excess rods and loss of SWS1 cones). We sought to define what genetic relationship exists, if any, between these transcription factors. We also infer whether these two phenotypes (altered rod abundance and altered SWS1 cone abundance) are independent versus inter-related.
Methods Zebrafish mutants were bred to disrupt nrl and tbx2b in concert. Rods and SWS1 cones were quantified and characterized at ultrastructural and transcriptional levels.
Results Considering single mutant zebrafish, we confirmed previously established phenotypes and noted that the number of rods lost in nrl-/- mutants is reflected by a concomitant increase in SWS1 cone abundance. The tbx2b-/- mutants present the opposite phenotype(s) but exhibit a similar trade-off in cell abundances, with lots of rods and a concomitant decrease in SWS1 cones. Double mutant nrl-/-;tbx2b-/- zebrafish recapitulate the nrl-/- mutant phenotype(s).
Conclusions The tbx2b is thought to be required for producing SWS1 cones in zebrafish, but this can be over-ridden when nrl is absent. Regarding the altered cell abundances observed in either tbx2b-/- or nrl-/- mutants, the alterations in rod and SWS1 cones appear to not be two separate phenotypes but are instead a single intertwined outcome. The tbx2b and nrl are in an epistatic relationship, with nrl phenotypes dominating, implying that tbx2b is upstream of nrl in photoreceptor cell fate determination.
Genes / Markers
Figure Gallery (4 images)
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping