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The conditional medaka mutation eyeless uncouples patterning and morphogenesis of the eye
S Winkler1, F Loosli, T Henrich
1Developmental Biology Programme, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, PO Box 10.2209, Germany. Wittbrodt@EMBL-Heidelberg.de
Development (Cambridge, England)
|April 6, 2000
Summary
The Japanese medaka eyeless mutation disrupts optic vesicle evagination during early vertebrate eye development. This temperature-sensitive mutation uncouples retinal patterning from morphogenesis, highlighting eyeless gene
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Ophthalmology
- Genetics
Background:
- Early vertebrate eye development involves retinal anlage specification in the anterior neuroectoderm.
- Optic vesicles evaginate from the prosencephalon during neurulation to form the eye.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of the temperature-sensitive eyeless mutation in Japanese medaka eye development.
- To understand the relationship between retinal patterning and optic vesicle morphogenesis.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of marker gene expression in eyeless mutant medaka embryos.
- Temperature-shift experiments to determine the timing of eyeless gene function.
- Cell transplantation experiments to assess the cell autonomy of the eyeless mutation.
Main Results:
- The eyeless mutation allows retinal primordia specification and patterning but prevents optic vesicle evagination.
- Subsequent differentiation of retinal primordia is not observed in mutant embryos.
- Eyeless activity is required before optic vesicle evagination, and it acts cell autonomously.
Conclusions:
- The eyeless mutation uncouples patterning and morphogenesis in early retinal development.
- This study identifies a critical role for the eyeless gene in optic vesicle evagination.