PUBLICATION
Visual pigment composition in zebrafish: Evidence for a rhodopsin-porphyropsin interchange system
- Authors
- Allison, W.T., Haimberger, T.J., Hawryshyn, C.W., and Temple, S.E.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-050301-5
- Date
- 2004
- Source
- Visual neuroscience 21(6): 945-952 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Allison, Ted
- Keywords
- Retina; Teleost fish; Giant danio; Chromophore; Thyroxine
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells/drug effects
- Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells/metabolism
- Retinal Pigments/metabolism*
- Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells/drug effects
- Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells/metabolism
- Rhodopsin/metabolism*
- Spectrophotometry
- Thyroxine/pharmacology
- Zebrafish/metabolism*
- PubMed
- 15733349 Full text @ Vis. Neurosci.
Citation
Allison, W.T., Haimberger, T.J., Hawryshyn, C.W., and Temple, S.E. (2004) Visual pigment composition in zebrafish: Evidence for a rhodopsin-porphyropsin interchange system. Visual neuroscience. 21(6):945-952.
Abstract
Numerous reports have concluded that zebrafish (Danio rerio) possesses A1-based visual pigments in their rod and cone photoreceptors. In the present study, we investigated the possibility that zebrafish have a paired visual pigment system. We measured the spectral absorption characteristics of photoreceptors from zebrafish maintained in different temperature regimes and those treated with exogenous thyroid hormone using CCD-based microspectrophotometry. Rods from fish housed at 15 degrees C and 28 degrees C were not significantly different, having lambdamax values of 503 +/- 5 nm (n = 106) and 504 +/- 6 nm (n = 88), respectively. Thyroid hormone treatment (held at 28 degrees C), however, significantly shifted the lambdamax of rods from 503 +/- 5 nm (n = 194) to 527 +/- 8 nm (n = 212). Cone photoreceptors in fish housed at 28 degrees C (without thyroid hormone treatment) had lambdamax values of 361 +/- 3 nm (n = 2) for ultraviolet-, 411 +/- 5 nm (n = 18) for short-, 482 +/- 6 nm (n = 9) for medium-, and 565 +/- 10 nm (n = 14) for long-wavelength sensitive cones. Thyroid hormone treatment of fish held at 28 degrees C significantly shifted the lambdamax of long-wavelength sensitive cones to 613 +/- 11 nm (n = 20), substantially beyond that of the lambdamax of the longest possible A1-based visual pigment ( approximately 580 nm). Thyroid hormone treatment produced smaller shifts of lambdamax in other cone types and increased the half-band width. All shifts in photoreceptor lambdamax values resulting from thyroid hormone treatment matched predictions for an A1- to A2-based visual pigment system. We therefore conclude that zebrafish possess a rhodopsin-porphyropsin interchange system that functions to spectrally tune rod and cone photoreceptors. We believe that these observations should be carefully considered during analysis of zebrafish spectral sensitivity.
Errata / Notes
Erratum in: Vis Neurosci. 2005 Mar-Apr;22(2):249.As a result of a production error, the footnote to this article was incorrect. It should have stated that "the authors are in alphabetical order" instead of stating that "all authors contributed equally to this paper." Because of the nature of this error, the online version has been corrected.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping