We performed genome-wide chemical mutagenesis of C57BL/6J mice
using N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU). Electroretinographic
screening of the third generation offspring revealed two G3 individuals
from one G1 family with a normal a-wave but lacking the b-wave that we
named nob4. The mutation was transmitted with a recessive mode of
inheritance and mapped to chromosome 11 in a region containing the
Grm6 gene, which encodes a metabotropic glutamate receptor
protein, mGluR6. Sequencing confirmed a single nucleotide substitution
from T to C in the Grm6 gene. The mutation is predicted to result
in substitution of Pro for Ser at position 185 within the extracellular,
ligand-binding domain and oocytes expressing the homologous mutation in
mGluR6 did not display robust glutamate-induced currents. Retinal mRNA
levels for Grm6 were not significantly reduced, but no
immunoreactivity for mGluR6 protein was found. Histological and fundus
evaluations of nob4 showed normal retinal morphology. In
contrast, the mutation has severe consequences for visual function. In
nob4 mice, fewer retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) responded to the
onset (ON) of a bright full field stimulus. When ON responses could be
evoked, their onset was significantly delayed. Visual acuity and contrast
sensitivity, measured with optomotor responses, were reduced under both
photopic and scotopic conditions. This mutant will be useful because its
phenotype is similar to that of human patients with congenital stationary
night blindness and will provide a tool for understanding retinal
circuitry and the role of ganglion cell encoding of visual
information.