Premium
Fluorescence visualization of ultraviolet‐sensitive cone photoreceptor development in living zebrafish
Author(s) -
Takechi Masaki,
Hamaoka Takanori,
Kawamura Shoji
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(03)00977-3
Subject(s) - zebrafish , biology , green fluorescent protein , opsin , retina , microbiology and biotechnology , transgene , retinal , complementary dna , anatomy , gene , rhodopsin , genetics , biochemistry , neuroscience
Cone photoreceptor cells of fish retinae are arranged in a highly organized fashion. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying photoreceptor development and retinal pattern formation are largely unknown. Here we established transgenic lines of zebrafish carrying green fluorescent protein (GFP) cDNA with the 5.5‐kb upstream region of the ultraviolet‐sensitive cone opsin gene ( SWS1 ). In the transgenic fish, GFP gene expression proceeded in the same spatiotemporal pattern as SWS1 in the retinae of embryos. In the adult retina, GFP expression was observed throughout the short single cone (SSC) layer where SWS1 is specifically expressed. Therefore, the transgenic fish provides an excellent genetic background to study retinal pattern formation, photoreceptor determination and differentiation, and factors regulating these processes and SSC‐specific expression of SWS1 .