GFP in the eye

[Mega [Andreas Stuermer]]

Hi everybody, 

I came across this recently:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-beginner-newt-salamander-axolotl-help-topics/f48-axolotls-ambystoma-mexicanum/f57-axolotl-general-discussion/89731-gfp-black-light-eye-sensitivty.html  

And it made me wonder all the time. A lots of animals have been done with GFP, including mammals and insects. My mind goes crazy if such an animal would perceive the world differently, and whether the blue portion of the daylight would cause the eye to give off green background noise. Are GFP aninals less fit than other animals by not being able to see well? 

How about RFP or CFP? CFP gets activated by harder UV so it shouldn't be distracting to the animals? 

Can't find hard data on this, has anyone heard about that (or own GFP pets)?

Here the original post: 

"I have a GFP gene leucistic axolotl and it didn't take me long to realize that the little axolotl really hates being exposed to black light. Since UV light is not all that harsh and probably not in the axolotl range of vision I used to assume that the little critter was reacting to the greenish glow that suddenly appeared in the tank. I rarely used the black light on her (just once in a while to show people the gene) and didn't give it much thought.

However looking at a recent close up pic I took of my axolotl in normal light I've had a new theory. 

When you look at the pupils of the GFP axolotl you can see the tell tale green cast since the gene codes for a slightly green color even in normal light. When you can see a color in a pupil you're actually seeing a color in the retina (since the pupil is just a hole). Like when you see a red pupil in an albino you're seeing the blood in the back of the retina, in most animals pupils appear black due the fact that the retinal and iris tissue has pigments that absorb the light before it can escape again where as there is more light bouncing back out of an albino eye . 

So if the GFP gene is present in the retina cells that means when the poor little axolotl is being exposed to a black light the back of the animals retinas are probably glowing as well. It would be a serious sensory overload to suddenly have the back of your eye glow!

Do others out there with leucistic or albino GFP axolotl find that their animals react negatively (racing around the tank, trying to hide, thrashing) when exposed to black light? If yours does not, does yours show green in the pupils under normal light? 

Photos taken under normal light showing bright green pupils of the GFP gene in my axolotl."

[Scott]

The animal was born with GFP so the brain would have adapted to it being present. Quite different from having GFP introduced into an adult retina.

"Less fit" is relative to the context! In a controlled environment like a fish tank I doubt it would be less fit - out in the wild might be different. 

I believe this is the paper that describes that specific transgenic axolotl. It is not clear which transgene was used.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012160605008638

Cheers,

Scott