The circadian clock gene Bmal1 is required to control the timing of retinal neurogenesis and lamination of Müller glia in the mouse retina

A single pool of multipotent retinal progenitor cells give rise to the diverse cell types within the mammalian retina. Such cellular diversity is due to precise control of various cellular processes like cell specification, proliferation, differentiation, and maturation. Circadian clock genes can control the expression of key regulators of cell cycle progression and therefore can synchronize the cell cycle state of a heterogeneous population of cells. Here we show that the protein encoded by the circadian clock gene brain and muscle arnt-like protein-1 (Bmal1) is expressed in the embryonic retina and is required to regulate the timing of cell cycle exit. Accordingly, loss of Bmal1 during retinal neurogenesis results in increased S-phase entry and delayed cell cycle exit. Disruption in cell cycle kinetics affects the timely generation of the appropriate neuronal population thus leading to an overall decrease in the number of retinal ganglion cells, amacrine cells, and an increase in the number of the late-born type II cone bipolar cells as well as the Müller glia. Additionally, the mislocalized Müller cells are observed in the photoreceptor layer in the Bmal1 conditional mutants. These changes affect the functional integrity of the visual circuitry as we report a significant delay in visual evoked potential implicit time in the retina-specific Bmal1 null animals. Our results demonstrate that Bmal1 is required to maintain the balance between the neural and glial cells in the embryonic retina by coordinating the timing of cell cycle entry and exit. Thus, Bmal1 plays an essential role during retinal neurogenesis affecting both development and function of the mature retina.-Sawant, O. B., Jidigam, V. K., Fuller, R. D., Zucaro, O. F., Kpegba, C., Yu, M., Peachey, N. S., Rao, S. The circadian clock gene Bmal1 is required to control the timing of retinal neurogenesis and lamination of Müller glia in the mouse retina.