PUBLICATION

Zebrafish yolk-specific not really started (nrs) gene is a vertebrate homolog of the Drosophila spinster gene and is essential for embryogenesis

Authors
Young, R.M., Marty, S., Nakano, Y., Wang, H., Yamamoto, D., Lin, S., and Allende, M.L.
ID
ZDB-PUB-020218-8
Date
2002
Source
Developmental Dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists   223(2): 298-305 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Allende, Miguel L., Lin, Shuo, Marty, Scott, Wang, Han, Young, Rodrigo
Keywords
Danio rerio; lipofuscin; ceroid; insertional mutagenesis
MeSH Terms
  • Microtubule-Associated Proteins
  • Microinjections
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
  • Drosophila melanogaster/genetics*
  • Cell Cycle Proteins
  • Drosophila Proteins/genetics*
  • Drosophila Proteins/physiology
  • Animals
  • Species Specificity
  • Zebrafish Proteins/deficiency
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics*
  • Zebrafish Proteins/physiology
  • Gene Targeting
  • Phosphoproteins
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Expressed Sequence Tags
  • Chromosome Mapping
  • Mutagenesis, Insertional
  • Retroviridae/genetics
  • RNA, Messenger/genetics
  • Mice
  • Genetic Linkage
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Humans
  • Genes, Lethal
  • Zebrafish/embryology
  • Zebrafish/genetics*
  • Sequence Alignment
  • DNA, Recombinant/administration & dosage
  • DNA, Recombinant/genetics
  • Membrane Transport Proteins
  • Female
  • In Situ Hybridization
  • Genes*
  • Egg Proteins/genetics*
  • Egg Proteins/physiology
  • Membrane Proteins/deficiency
  • Membrane Proteins/genetics*
  • Membrane Proteins/physiology
PubMed
11836794 Full text @ Dev. Dyn.
Abstract
By using retroviral insertional mutagenesis in zebrafish, we have identified a recessive lethal mutation in the not really started (nrs) gene. The nrs mutation disrupts a gene located in linkage group 3 that is highly homologous to the spinster gene identified in Drosophila and to spinster orthologs identified in mammals. In flies, spinster encodes a membrane protein involved in lysosomal metabolism and programmed cell death in the central nervous system and in the ovary. In nrs mutant fish embryos, we detect an opaque substance in the posterior yolk cell extension at approximately 1 day after fertilization. This material progressively accumulates and by 48 hr after fertilization fills the entire yolk. By day 3 of embryogenesis, mutant embryos are severely reduced in size compared with their wild-type siblings and they die a few hours later. By in situ hybridization, we show that the nrs mRNA is expressed in the yolk cell at the time the mutant phenotype becomes appar! ent. In wild-type embryos, nrs message is present maternally and zygotically throughout embryogenesis and is also detected in adult animals. In nrs homozygous mutant embryos, nrs transcripts are undetectable at the time the phenotype becomes apparent, indicating that the retroviral insertion has most likely abolished expression of the nrs gene. Finally, the nrs phenotype can be partially rescued by microinjection of nrs encoding DNA. These results suggest that the nrs mutation affects an essential gene encoding a putative membrane-bound protein expressed specifically in the yolk cell during zebrafish embryogenesis.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping