Regulation of opsin expression in the retina of salmonid fishes

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The research proposed examines transcriptional mechanisms of visual pigment protein (opsin) expression in the vertebrate retina using cell cultures, and salmonid fishes as model organisms. These animals undergo natural switches in opsin expression that can be artificially induced by exogenous exposure to thyroid hormone, a crucial molecule during vertebrate development. The proposed research focuses on unraveling the mechanisms of action of thyroid hormone, retinoic acid and their respective nuclear receptors in controlling opsin expression during development and in the mature (differentiated) retina. Because nuclear hormone receptors and their ligands (e.g. thyroid hormone, retinoic acid) are involved in many fundamental processes of development, the research proposed here has wide applicability to many areas of developmental biology. As well, because opsin expression dictates the visual capabilities of an animal, this research is of fundamental importance to understand photoreceptor plasticity and the functional reasons behind the chromatic organization of cone mosaics in the vertebrate retina.