Parallel visual cycles in the zebrafish retina

Vertebrate vision necessitates continuous recycling of the chromophore 11-cis retinal (RAL). The classical (or canonical) visual cycle employs a number of enzymes located in the photoreceptor outer segment and RPE (retinal pigment epithelium) of the retina to regenerate 11-cis RAL from all-trans RAL. Cone-dominant species are believed to utilize a second, intra-retinal, pathway for 11-cis RAL generation, involving retinal Muller glia cells. This review summarizes the efforts made in zebrafish to gain a better understanding of the role of these two visual cycles for rod and cone photoreceptor chromophore recycling. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.