The zebrafish mutants for the V-ATPase subunits d, ac45, E, H and c and their variable pigment dilution phenotype

Based in the similarities between different pigment dilution mutants we suggest that there is an essential role for V-ATPases in melanosome biogenesis and melanocyte survival. Neither variable expression levels for the different V-ATPase subunits studied here or the presence of duplicated genes seems to account for the variable phenotype severity from this group of mutants. We believe there are some similarities between the pigment dilution phenotype from zebrafish V-ATPase insertional mutants and pigment mutants obtained in a chemical screening ("Tubingen mutants"). As for most of these "Tubingen mutants" the mutated gene has not been found we suggest that mutations in V-ATPase genes may be inducing their defects.