Fig. 8

Expression of crx and nr2e3 is reduced at 48 hpf in insm1a morphants. (A) At 48 hpf, crx was expressed strongly in the developing ONL and weakly in some cells of the INL in control retinas. In insm1a morphant retinas crx was expressed in the ventro-nasal retina (black arrowhead), and expression decreased in a counterclockwise fashion across the retina (gray arrowheads). At 72 hpf, crx expression appeared similar between insm1a morphants and controls, and was observed primarily in the ONL. (B) At 48 hpf, nr2e3 was expressed strongly in nascent photoreceptor cells in the ONL, and in scattered cells in the distal half of INL in control retinas. Insm1a morphants displayed varying degrees of reduction in nr2e3 expression. In approximately half of the insm1a morphant retinas the nr2e3 expression pattern was only slightly less intense than controls (left panel), whereas the remaining half expressed nr2e3 only in the ventro-nasal retina (right, black arrowhead). At 72 hpf, nr2e3 expression had recovered greatly in insm1a morphants; however, nr2e3 staining did appear less dense and more discontinuous in insm1a morphants than in controls. (C) qPCR confirmed a 2.7-fold reduction in crx transcripts (*p<0.0128), and a 4.6-fold reduction in nr2e3 (*p<0.0084) at 48 hpf. Scale bar=50 μm; ONL, outer nuclear layer; INL, inner nuclear layer; L, lens; hpf, hours post fertilization; MO, morpholino.