Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The long term goal of my research program is to understand unique anatomical and functional features of the visual systems of North Atlantic teleosts and to learn how these systems might be important to the health and survival of these animals in both wild and culture settings. Our progress up to now on this goal has already revealed new examples of specific visual system features in one of these species, the lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus). In addition to the first report of the pathobiology of cataract in lumpfish, my group has discovered that lumpfish possess interesting eye structures including an anatomically isolated lobe of retina (similar but more elaborate structures have been described in deep sea fish), a prominent retractor lentis (an intraocular muscle which moves the lens) and an unusually robust posterior ocular vasculature. A recent collaborative study raises a number of new questions about the role of cluster of differentiation 10 (CD10)+ cell populations in pathogen responses and ocular biology of eye tissues in wild versus cultured lumpfish and is the basis of the proposal herein. The short term goals of this 5 year proposal will be to expand on our existing knowledge of CD10+ cell populations in wild and cultured lumpfish visual systems. CD10 plays a number of roles in cell biology, one of which is involvement in stem cell differentiation. In this proposal I will focus on lumpfish as a paradigm to explore how wild marine teleosts utilize a CD10 pathway to respond to ocular pathogens not encountered in the culture setting. My trainees, collaborators and I will define phenotypic characteristics of ocular CD10+ cells in wild versus cultured lumpfish. With lumpfish genomics now available, we will explore gene expression patterns in lumpfish ocular CD10+ cells using state of the art single cell transcriptomics and gene ontology analysis. We will explore the ability of lumpfish ocular CD10+ cells to act as precursor cells to form cell lineages relevant to ocular pathogen response and ocular integrity. Ocean changes are known to impact marine pathogens which, in turn, can affect the health and habitat range of marine teleosts. The work proposed will provide a better understanding of the roles that marine teleost ocular CD10+ cells play in response to marine pathogens in wild versus culture settings and what might make these cells important for possibly containing and mitigating natural marine ocular infections. Future proposals will elaborate how CD10 and other unique molecular, cellular and physiological ocular features support visual integrity in lumpfish and other North Atlantic teleosts. My overall goals are important on two levels. First, the work will provide new fundamental knowledge on North Atlantic teleost visual systems and vision biology in general. Second, the work could reveal anatomical and functional features about these animals that are particularly relevant in the context of North Atlantic ocean changes.