A New Form of Inherited Red-Blindness Identified in Zebrafish

Abstract

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.poblarvae 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, andin situhybridization analyses ofpobretinas 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 thepobmutant 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.