What is it about?
Cilia are small antenna-like structures used by cells to communicate with the outside world and flagella are used to move an organism through water. Two plus-ended molecular motors (KIF3 and KIF17) are known to exist vertebrate and invertebrate cilia and flagella. These motors transport cargo to maintain their structure and function. Using genetics and gene knockout technology, we determined that one of the two motors (KIF17) is not essential for photoreceptor function (vision). We suggest that KIF17, still present in photoreceptors, may have lost its motor function during photoreceptor evolution.
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Why is it important?
Function of photoreceptors is essential for normal vision in mammals, non-mammalian vertebrates and invertebrates. In mouse, the essential molecular motor is KIF3 (heterotrimeric kinesin-2).
Perspectives
Photoreceptors developed over millions of years and adapted their function and survival to existing environmental conditions. Mice are nocturnal animals and for their survival KIF17 became unimportant. In other animals (zebrafish for example) Kif17 still has conserved some function in cilia development.
wolfgang baehr
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Kinesin family 17 (osmotic avoidance abnormal-3) is dispensable for photoreceptor morphology and function, The FASEB Journal, July 2015, Federation of American Societies For Experimental Biology (FASEB),
DOI: 10.1096/fj.15-275677.
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