The Bmp family of secreted signaling molecules is implicated in multiple aspects of embryonic development. However, the cell-type-specific requirements for this signaling pathway are often obscure in the context of complex embryonic tissue interactions. To define the cell-autonomous requirements for Bmp signaling, we have used a Cre-loxP strategy to delete Bmp receptor function specifically within the developing mouse retina. Disruption of a Bmp type I receptor gene, Bmpr1a, leads to no detectable eye abnormality. Further reduction of Bmp receptor activity by removing one functional copy of another Bmp type I receptor gene, Bmpr1b, in the retina-specific Bmpr1a mutant background, results in abnormal retinal dorsoventral patterning. Double mutants completely lacking both of these genes exhibit severe eye defects characterized by reduced growth of embryonic retina and failure of retinal neurogenesis. These studies provide direct genetic evidence that Bmpr1a and Bmpr1b play redundant roles during retinal development, and that different threshold levels of Bmp signaling regulate distinct developmental programs such as patterning, growth and differentiation of the retina.

We report the development and optimization of reagents for in-solution, hybridization-based capture of the mouse exome. By validating this approach in a multiple inbred strains and in novel mutant strains, we show that whole exome sequencing is a robust approach for discovery of putative mutations, irrespective of strain background. We found strong candidate mutations for the majority of mutant exomes sequenced, including new models of orofacial clefting, urogenital dysmorphology, kyphosis and autoimmune hepatitis.

The study of mouse hearing impairment mutants has led to the identification of a number of human hearing impairment genes and has greatly furthered our understanding of the physiology of hearing. The novel mouse mutant neurological/sensory 5 (nse5) demonstrates a significantly reduced or absent startle response to sound and is therefore a potential murine model of human hearing impairment. Genetic analysis of 500 intercross progeny localized the mutant locus to a 524 kilobase (kb) interval on mouse chromosome 15. A missense mutation in a highly-conserved amino acid was found in the asparagine-linked glycosylation 10B gene (Alg10b), which is within the critical interval for the nse5 mutation. A 20.4 kb transgene containing a wildtype copy of the Alg10b gene rescued the mutant phenotype in nse5/nse5 homozygous animals, confirming that the mutation in Alg10b is responsible for the nse5/nse5 mutant phenotype. Homozygous nse5/nse5 mutants had abnormal auditory brainstem responses (ABRs), distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), and cochlear microphonics (CMs). Endocochlear potentials (EPs), on the other hand, were normal. ABRs and DPOAEs also confirmed the rescue of the mutant nse5/nse5 phenotype by the wildtype Alg10b transgene. These results suggested a defect in the outer hair cells of mutant animals, which was confirmed by histologic analysis. This is the first report of mutation in a gene involved in the asparagine (N)-linked glycosylation pathway causing nonsyndromic hearing impairment, and it suggests that the hearing apparatus, and the outer hair cells in particular, are exquisitely sensitive to perturbations of the N-linked glycosylation pathway.