Mutations of the tyrosinase gene are one common cause of a similar phenotype in all vertebrates, known as albinism. In an attempt to
contribute to an understanding of the genetic hierarchy governing the development of pigmentation, we have used a mouse tyrosinase
minigene under the control of its 5.2 kb upstream promoter region to rescue two different albino mutations in the medakafish, Oryzias
latipes. Around hatching stages an almost perfect phenocopy of the wildtype pigmentation was obtained. Subsequent ectopic melanin
overproduction indicated a possible incompatibility of the heterologous mouse promoter for stable expression during the entire ontogenesis.
Like in some tyrosinase transgenic mouse lines a strong variegation effect was observed. The transgene-mediated pigmentation phenotype
was obtained up to the eighth offspring generation. The phenotypic effects of the tyrosinase transgene in different albino mutant strains
places the i3-locus upstream and the b-locus downstream of the tyrosinase locus i1 in the genetic hierarchy leading to wildtype pigmentation.
1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd