Oliver G, Gruss P
Dept of Genetics, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.
Trends Neurosci. 1997 Sep;20(9):415-21. doi: 10.1016/s0166-2236(97)01082-5.
Several genes involved in the regulation of eye development in different species have been identified. Structural and functional conservation have been found between some of these genes in organisms as diverse as Drosophila and mouse. One notable example is the relationship between the mouse Pax6 gene and eyeless of Drosophila. Ectopic expression of eyeless or mouse Pax6 in Drosophila results in the formation of additional eyes. Recently, another homeobox gene, Six3, was found to promote ectopic lens formation in fish embryos. The next step will be to unravel the associated regulatory pathways of these genes and assess the degree to which they display evolutionary conservation. This will be important in order to assimilate these findings with current anatomical and embryological models. It seems reasonable to believe that in the near future the characterization of the whole framework required for vertebrate eye development will be accomplished.
在不同物种中，已鉴定出多个参与眼睛发育调控的基因。在果蝇和小鼠等多种生物中，已发现其中一些基因存在结构和功能上的保守性。一个显著的例子是小鼠Pax6基因与果蝇无眼基因之间的关系。在果蝇中异位表达无眼基因或小鼠Pax6会导致额外眼睛的形成。最近，发现另一个同源框基因Six3可促进鱼类胚胎中异位晶状体的形成。下一步将是揭示这些基因相关的调控途径，并评估它们在进化上的保守程度。这对于将这些发现与当前的解剖学和胚胎学模型相结合至关重要。有理由相信，在不久的将来，脊椎动物眼睛发育所需的整个框架的特征将被阐明。
