Abstract
Mutations within the rhodopsin gene are known to give rise to autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a common hereditary form of retinal degeneration. We now describe a patient with autosomal recessive RP who is homozygous for a nonsense mutation at codon 249 within exon 4 of the rhodopsin gene. This null mutation, the first gene defect identified in autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa, should result in a functionally inactive rhodopsin protein that is missing the sixth and seventh transmembrane domains including the 11–cis–retinal attachment site. We also found a different null mutation carried heterozygously by an unrelated unaffected individual. Heterozygous carriers of either mutation had normal ophthalmologic examinations but their electroretinograms revealed an abnormality in rod photoreceptor function.
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Rosenfeld, P., Cowley, G., McGee, T. et al. A Null mutation in the rhodopsin gene causes rod photoreceptor dysfunction and autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa. Nat Genet 1, 209–213 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0692-209
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0692-209
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