Cell death in the inner and outer nuclear layers of the developing retina in the wallaby Setonix brachyurus (quokka)

We have examined the number and distribution of dying cells in the developing inner (INL) and outer (ONL) nuclear layers of sectioned quokka retinae (N = 31) from embryonic day (E)24 to postnatal day (P)192. Before birth, dying cells were seen in the optic fissure. Thereafter two major phases of cell death took place in the INL. The first phase was more pronounced within the vitread part with peak numbers of dying cells at P50. By contrast, during the second phase, cell death was more extensive in the sclerad portion; peak numbers of dying cells were recorded at P85 and P100 for the vitread and sclerad parts respectively. At these stages, photoreceptors were seen in the INL suggesting that these ectopic cells contribute to the pool of dying cells. The pattern of cell death broadly followed a central to peripheral sequence in the first phase but, in the second, was seen initially in mid-temporal retina and then became panretinal. Dying cells were seen in the ONL but in smaller numbers than in the INL. There was a peak of cell death at P26 which may represent death of mitotic cells at the ventricular surface. In the quokka, retinal cell genesis takes place in two phases (Harman and Beazley: Neuroscience 28:219-232, '89). The two major phases of cell death described here peak approximately 40 days after episodes of maximal cell genesis. These findings, together with data for the mouse, suggest that a biphasic pattern of cell genesis and cell death may be a feature of eutherian as well as marsupial retinal development.