PUBLICATION

Ancient origin of the rod bipolar cell pathway in the vertebrate retina

Authors
Hellevik, A.M., Mardoum, P., Hahn, J., Kölsch, Y., D'Orazi, F.D., Suzuki, S.C., Godinho, L., Lawrence, O., Rieke, F., Shekhar, K., Sanes, J.R., Baier, H., Baden, T., Wong, R.O., Yoshimatsu, T.
ID
ZDB-PUB-240417-10
Date
2024
Source
Nature ecology & evolution   8(6): 1165-1179 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Baden, Tom, Baier, Herwig, Godinho, Leanne, Kölsch, Yvonne, Lawrence, Owen, Wong, Rachel, Yoshimatsu, Takeshi
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Biological Evolution
  • Mammals
  • Retina/cytology
  • Retina/physiology
  • Retinal Bipolar Cells*/physiology
  • Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells*/physiology
  • Zebrafish*/physiology
PubMed
38627529 Full text @ Nat Ecol Evol
Abstract
Vertebrates rely on rod photoreceptors for vision in low-light conditions. The specialized downstream circuit for rod signalling, called the primary rod pathway, is well characterized in mammals, but circuitry for rod signalling in non-mammals is largely unknown. Here we demonstrate that the mammalian primary rod pathway is conserved in zebrafish, which diverged from extant mammals ~400 million years ago. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we identified two bipolar cell types in zebrafish that are related to mammalian rod bipolar cell (RBCs), the only bipolar type that directly carries rod signals from the outer to the inner retina in the primary rod pathway. By combining electrophysiology, histology and ultrastructural reconstruction of the zebrafish RBCs, we found that, similar to mammalian RBCs, both zebrafish RBC types connect with all rods in their dendritic territory and provide output largely onto amacrine cells. The wiring pattern of the amacrine cells postsynaptic to one RBC type is strikingly similar to that of mammalian RBCs and their amacrine partners, suggesting that the cell types and circuit design of the primary rod pathway emerged before the divergence of teleost fish and mammals. The second RBC type, which forms separate pathways, was either lost in mammals or emerged in fish.
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Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
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Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
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