Astyanax mexicanus Transcriptome or Gene expression. Astyanax mexicanus

Astyanax provides a model for the retinal degeneration diseases of old age. Some populations of the Mexican tetra (Astyanax mexicanus) are blind cavefish that inhabit perpetually dark caves in Mexico. Living in environments devoid of light, Astyanax have evolved impaired vision and pigment loss by genetic drift or natural selection. Other populations of the Mexican tetra inhabit rivers and streams of northern Mexico and the southern US; these surface populations have normal eyes and dark pigment cells in their skin, thus providing a 'wild-type control' for the 'evolutionary mutant' cavefish. This species thus provides an ideal opportunity to study the genetic basis of retinal degeneration.

墨西哥丽脂鲤（Astyanax mexicanus）可作为老年性视网膜退行性疾病的研究模型。部分该物种的种群为盲洞穴鱼，栖息于墨西哥境内常年无光的洞穴中。由于长期处于无光环境，这些种群通过遗传漂变或自然选择演化出了视力受损与皮肤色素缺失的表型。另有部分墨西哥丽脂鲤种群栖息于墨西哥北部及美国南部的河流与溪流中；这些地表种群拥有正常的眼部结构与皮肤深色色素细胞，可作为该"演化突变型"洞穴鱼的"野生型对照"。因此，该物种为研究视网膜退行性疾病的遗传基础提供了绝佳的研究契机。