PUBLICATION

Modifiers of transgene methylation and expression, and genomic imprinting in the zebrafish, Danio rerio

Authors
Martin, C.C.
ID
ZDB-PUB-021016-96
Date
1994
Source
Master's Thesis : (Thesis)
Registered Authors
Martin, C. Cristofre
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
none
PubMed
none
Abstract
Previous reports involving mammalian systems, particularly mice, have demonstrated the existence of cis- and trans-acting modifiers of transgene methylation and expression. These modifiers are thought to be important in dominance modification, genome imprinting and cellular expression mosaicism. The role that they may play in the penetrance and severity of many complex human diseases could be of even greater significance. In the present investigation I demonstrate that modifiers exist in a non-mammalian vertebrate, the zebrafish Danio rerio that act in a similar fashion to those identified in mice. I also provide evidence that the transgene methylation pattern may be influenced by genetic background, the sex of the individual and environmental modulators such as temperature and sodium butyrate. These data support the theory that this type of dominance modification is mechanistically analogous to Drosophila position effect variegation. I provide evidence that genomic imprinting is occurring in the zebrafish, and that it can be monitored at the level of transgene methylation as observed in imprinted murine transgenes and endogenous genes. Furthermore, these data suggest evolutionary conservation of the genomic imprinting phenomenon and the modifiers involved, at least within vertebrates, and implies that they and their actions are important in normal vertebrate development. The presence of genomic imprinting in the fish forces us to re-evaluate the proposed theories for the evolution of imprinting which are based primarily on mammalian data.
Errata / Notes
M.Sc. Thesis, The University of Manitoba (Canada)
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping