Thyroid hormone and developmental plasticity of cichlid opsin gene expression

Cichlid fishes are known for their differential expression of opsin genes. Opsin gene expression differs between adults of different species. In addition, some species vary opsin expression through development, while other species are neotenic, retaining larval like gene expression. We sequenced retinal transcriptomes for developmental series from tilapia which vary through development and Metriaclima cichlids which are neotenic. We also treated these species with thyroid hormone or a thyroid hormone inhibitor to determine their impact on opsin expression and other key transcription factors.