Kainz, Pamela

Coming from a background in human color vision, I was immediately impressed by the cone photoreceptor system in the zebrafish retina. There are four spectrally distinct cone types (red, green, blue and UV), and they are arranged in a highly organized mosaic. I'm interested in the factors required in the generation and maintenance of the strict pattern of cones as well as the anatomy of the cone/color pathways within the retina. My approach toward gaining a better understanding of both issues involves studying 'colorblind' zebrafish mutants - those missing one class of cones - and evaluating how their retinas differ from wild type. If one cone type is missing, what effect does it's absence have on the patterning within the retinal mosaic? Furthermore, does the absence of one cone type's input have a corresponding effect on the second order neurons, or, the ultrastructure within the outer plexiform layer, the first relay station of color information? I'm currently using a behavioral assay based on the optokinetic response of zebrafish larvae to identify 'colorblind' mutants.