Jeffery Lab

Our major research interest is the evolution of eyelessness in the cavefish, Astyanax fasciatus. In this species of fish, some populations have been isolated in Mexican caves during the last 100,000 years. In those populations, eyes and body pigmentation have been lost. Populations which remain on the surface still retain those features. Genetic experiments (crosses) have shown that there are probably many genes involved in the loss of eyes. We want to know which genes were mutated and what form those mutations takes. In pursuit of this, we are attempting to clone, and examine the expression of, several genes that are believed to be involved in eye formation in other vertebrates. We are also interested in learning why pigmentation has been lost in this species.