Novel PDE6A mutation in an Emirati patient with retinitis pigmentosa

Mutations in the PDE6A gene are known to cause a form of retinitis pigmentosa (RP43), characterized by progressive retinal degeneration. We describe an Emirati patient with RP caused by a novel mutation in PDE6A. Clinical diagnosis of RP was made based on clinical evaluation and electroretinograms. The molecular analysis involved performing whole-exome sequencing, which enabled the identification of a homozygous 2-bp deletion (c.1358_1359delAT) in PDE6A, which was predicted to result in a frameshift and premature termination (p.Ile452Serfs*7). The mutation completely removed the catalytic PDEase domain in the protein. The parents were found to be heterozygous carriers of the variant. We thus report the first known case of a pathological variant in the PDE6A gene from the Arabian Peninsula.