Photoreception is a ubiquitous sensory ability found across the Metazoa, and photoreceptive organs are intricate and diverse in their structure. While the morphology of the compound eye in Drosophila and the single-chambered eye in vertebrates have elaborated independently, the amount of conservation within the ‘eye’ gene regulatory network remains controversial with few taxa studied. To better understand the evolution of photoreceptive organs, we established the cephalopod, Doryteuthis pealeii, as a lophotrochozoan model for eye development. Utilizing histological, transcriptomic and molecular assays we characterize eye formation in Doryteuthis pealeii. Through lineage tracing and gene expression analyses, we demonstrate that cells expressing Pax and Six genes incorporate into the lens, cornea and iris, and the eye placode is the sole source of retinal tissue. Functional assays demonstrate that Notch signaling is required for photoreceptor cell differentiation and retinal organization. This comparative approach places the canon of eye research in traditional models into perspective, highlighting complexity as a result of both conserved and convergent mechanisms.
Eye development and photoreceptor differentiation in the cephalopod Doryteuthis pealeii
Current address: Eye and Ear Institute, Charles and Louella Snyder Laboratory for Retinal Regeneration, Department of Ophthalmology, Louis J. Fox Center for Vision Restoration, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh PA 15213 United States
Current address: FAS Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University, Northwest Labs 365.10, 52 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
Currently Viewing Accepted Manuscript - Newer Version Available
Kristen M. Koenig, Peter Sun, Eli Meyer, Jeffrey M. Gross; Eye development and photoreceptor differentiation in the cephalopod Doryteuthis pealeii. Development 2016; dev.134254. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.134254
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