1. Eye morphogenesis in the blind Mexican cavefish
- Author
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Laurent Legendre, François Agnès, Lucie Devos, Naima El Khallouki, Frédéric Sohm, Victor Simon, Joanne Edouard, Sosthène Barbachou, Sylvie Rétaux, Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay (NeuroPSI), Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Animaux Modèles Aquatiques : ingéniérie GENétique (AMAGEN), and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)
- Subjects
genetic structures ,QH301-705.5 ,Science ,Morphogenesis ,Cavefish ,Biology ,Optic cup (anatomical) ,Blindness ,Eye ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Evolution, Molecular ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,biology.animal ,[SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology ,medicine ,Animals ,Optic vesicle ,Biology (General) ,Cell behaviours ,Live imaging ,030304 developmental biology ,0303 health sciences ,Coloboma ,Eye morphogenesis ,Evo-devo ,Fishes ,Vertebrate ,[SDV.BDD.MOR]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Development Biology/Morphogenesis ,CRISPR/Cas9 knock-in ,medicine.disease ,eye diseases ,3. Good health ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Evolutionary biology ,Lens (anatomy) ,Evolutionary developmental biology ,Zic1 ,Retinal pigmented epithelium ,sense organs ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Research Article - Abstract
The morphogenesis of the vertebrate eye consists of a complex choreography of cell movements, tightly coupled to axial regionalization and cell type specification processes. Disturbances in these events can lead to developmental defects and blindness. Here, we have deciphered the sequence of defective events leading to coloboma in the embryonic eye of the blind cavefish of the species Astyanax mexicanus. Using comparative live imaging on targeted enhancer-trap Zic1:hsp70:GFP reporter lines of both the normal, river-dwelling morph and the cave morph of the species, we identified defects in migratory cell behaviours during evagination that participate in the reduced optic vesicle size in cavefish, without proliferation defect. Further, impaired optic cup invagination shifts the relative position of the lens and contributes to coloboma in cavefish. Based on these results, we propose a developmental scenario to explain the cavefish phenotype and discuss developmental constraints to morphological evolution. The cavefish eye appears as an outstanding natural mutant model to study molecular and cellular processes involved in optic region morphogenesis., Summary: We show that the developing embryonic eye of the blind Mexican cavefish suffers multiple tissue morphogenesis and cell behaviour defects that lead to coloboma.
- Published
- 2021
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