4.7 Article

Melanopsin elevates locomotor activity during the wake state of the diurnal zebrafish

Journal

EMBO REPORTS
Volume 23, Issue 5, Pages -

Publisher

WILEY
DOI: 10.15252/embr.202051528

Keywords

behavioural genetics; melatonin; neurogenetics; photobiology; pineal

Funding

  1. VIPS fellowship [GM100402]
  2. FWF Lise Meitner fellowship [AM0167411]
  3. FWF [I2972]
  4. University of Vienna (research platform Marine Rhythms of Life)
  5. FWF START award [AY0041321, P28970]
  6. European Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ ERC Grant [337011]
  7. Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [I2972] Funding Source: Austrian Science Fund (FWF)

Ask authors/readers for more resources

Studies have shown that melanopsin plays a crucial role in regulating locomotor activity in diurnal zebrafish by inhibiting the melatonin pathway. Additionally, light signals can induce locomotor activity in a intensity-dependent manner during the diurnal wake state of zebrafish.
Mammalian and fish pineals play a key role in adapting behaviour to the ambient light conditions through the release of melatonin. In mice, light inhibits nocturnal locomotor activity via the non-visual photoreceptor Melanopsin. In contrast to the extensively studied function of Melanopsin in the indirect regulation of the rodent pineal, its role in the intrinsically photosensitive zebrafish pineal has not been elucidated. Therefore, it is not evident if the light signalling mechanism is conserved between distant vertebrates, and how Melanopsin could affect diurnal behaviour. A double knockout of melanopsins (opn4.1-opn4xb) was generated in the diurnal zebrafish, which manifests attenuated locomotor activity during the wake state. Transcriptome sequencing gave insight into pathways downstream of Melanopsin, implying that sustained repression of the melatonin pathway is required to elevate locomotor activity during the diurnal wake state. Moreover, we show that light induces locomotor activity during the diurnal wake state in an intensity-dependent manner. These observations suggest a common Melanopsin-driven mechanism between zebrafish and mammals, while the diurnal and nocturnal chronotypes are inversely regulated downstream of melatonin.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.7
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available