Research
General Information
ZIRC
ZFIN ID: ZDB-PERS-960805-160
Ekker, Marc
Marc Ekker Lab
Center for Advanced Research in Environmental Genomics
Department of Biology
University of Ottawa
20, Marie Curie
Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5
Canada
Phone: (613) 562-5800 ext 2605 Email: mekker@uottawa.ca
FAX: (613) 562-5486 URL:
Biography and Research Interests:

Publications:
Macdonald, R.B., Debiais-Thibaud, M., Martin, K., Poitras, L., Tay, B.H., Venkatesh, B., and Ekker, M. (2010) Functional conservation of a forebrain enhancer from the elephant shark (Callorhinchus milii) in zebrafish and mice. BMC Evol. Biol.. 10:157
Macdonald, R.B., Debiais-Thibaud, M., Talbot, J.C., and Ekker, M. (2010) The relationship between dlx and gad1 expression indicates highly conserved genetic pathways in the zebrafish forebrain. Dev. Dyn.. 239(8):2298-2306
Xi, Y., Ryan, J., Noble, S., Yu, M., Yilbas, A.E., and Ekker, M. (2010) Impaired dopaminergic neuron development and locomotor function in zebrafish with loss of pink1 function. Eur. J. Neurosci.. 31(4):623-633
Bayaa, M., Vulesevic, B., Esbaugh, A., Braun, M., Ekker, M.E., Grosell, M., and Perry, S.F. (2009) The involvement of SLC26 anion transporters in chloride uptake in zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae. J. Exp. Biol.. 212(Pt 20):3283-3295
Braun, M.H., Steele, S.L., Ekker, M., and Perry, S.F. (2009) Nitrogen excretion in developing zebrafish (Danio rerio): A role for Rh proteins and urea transporters. Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol.. 296(5):F994-F1005
Steele, S.L., Lo, K.H., Li, V.W., Cheng, S.H., Ekker, M., and Perry, S.F. (2009) Loss of M2 muscarinic receptor function inhibits development of hypoxic bradycardia and alters cardiac {beta}-adrenergic sensitivity in larval zebrafish Danio rerio. Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol.. 297(2):R412-R420
Jarinova, O., Hatch, G., Poitras, L., Prudhomme, C., Grzyb, M., Aubin, J., Bérubé-Simard, F.A., Jeannotte, L., and Ekker, M. (2008) Functional resolution of duplicated hoxb5 genes in teleosts. Development. 135(21):3543-3553
Sperber, S.M., Saxena, V., Hatch, G., and Ekker, M. (2008) Zebrafish dlx2a contributes to hindbrain neural crest survival, is necessary for differentiation of sensory ganglia and functions with dlx1a in maturation of the arch cartilage elements. Dev. Biol.. 314(1):59-70
Martyniuk, C.J., Gerrie, E.R., Popesku, J.T., Ekker, M., and Trudeau, V.L. (2007) Microarray analysis in the zebrafish (Danio rerio) liver and telencephalon after exposure to low concentration of 17alpha-ethinylestradiol. Aquat. Toxicol.. 84(1):38-49
Wang, H., Lee, E.M., Sperber, S.M., Lin, S., Ekker, M., and Long, Q. (2007) Isolation and expression of zebrafish zinc-finger transcription factor gene tsh1. Gene Expr. Patterns. 7(3):318-322
Padhi, B.K., Akimenko, M.A., and Ekker, M. (2006) Independent expansion of the keratin gene family in teleostean fish and mammals: An insight from phylogenetic analysis and radiation hybrid mapping of keratin genes in zebrafish. Gene. 368:37-45
Tostivint, H., Joly, L., Lihrmann, I., Parmentier, C., Lebon, A., Morisson, M., Calas, A., Ekker, M., and Vaudry, H. (2006) Comparative genomics provides evidence for close evolutionary relationships between the urotensin II and somatostatin gene families. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 103(7):2237-2247
Tostivint, H., Joly, L., Lihrmann, I., Conlon, J.M., Ekker, M., and Vaudry, H. (2005) Linkage mapping of the [pro2]somatostatin-14 gene in zebrafish: evolutionary perspectives. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci.. 1040:486-489
Padhi, B.K., Joly, L., Tellis, P., Smith, A., Nanjappa, P., Chevrette, M., Ekker, M., and Akimenko, M.A. (2004) Screen for genes differentially expressed during regeneration of the zebrafish caudal fin. Dev. Dyn.. 231(3):527-541
Tostivint, H., Joly, L., Lihrmann, I., Ekker, M., and Vaudry, H. (2004) Chromosomal localization of three somatostatin genes in zebrafish. Evidence that the [Pro2]-somatostatin-14 isoform and cortistatin are encoded by orthologous genes. J. Mol. Endocrinol.. 33(3):1-8
Bischof, J.M., Ekker, M., and Wevrick, R. (2003) A MAGE/NDN-like gene in zebrafish. Dev. Dyn.. 228(3):475-479
Ghanem, N., Jarinova, O., Amores, A., Long, Q., Hatch, G., Park, B.K., Rubenstein, J.L., and Ekker, M. (2003) Regulatory roles of conserved intergenic domains in vertebrate dlx bigene clusters. Genome Res.. 13(4):533-543
Hsiao, C.D., Ekker, M., and Tsai, H.J. (2003) Skin-specific expression of ictacalcin, a homolog of the S100 genes, during zebrafish embryogenesis. Dev. Dyn.. 228(4):745-750
Liu, L., Korzh, V., Balasubramaniyan, N.V., Ekker, M., and Ge, R. (2002) Platelet-derived growth factor A (pdgf-a) expression during zebrafish embryonic development. Dev. Genes Evol.. 212(6):298-301
Stuhmer, T., Puelles, L., Ekker, M., and Rubenstein, J.L. (2002) Expression from a Dlx gene enhancer marks adult mouse cortical GABAergic neurons. Cereb. Cortex. 12(1):75-85
Cadieux, B., James, S., Fryer, J.N., Ekker, M., Akimenko, M.-A., and Bennett, H.P.J. (2001) Characterization and tissue distribution of zebrafish granulins: Growth factors with possible roles in development and fin regeneration. FASEB J.. 15(5):A746
Hukriede, N., Fisher, D., Epstein, J., Joly, L., Tellis, P., Zhou, Y., Barbazuk, B., Cox, K., Fenton-Noriega, L., Hersey, C., Miles, J., Sheng, X., Song, A., Waterman, R., Johnson, S.L., Dawid, I.B., Chevrette, M., Zon, L.I., McPherson, J., and Ekker, M. (2001) The LN54 radiation hybrid map of zebrafish expressed sequences. Genome Res.. 11(12):2127-2132
Sleptsova-Friedrich, I., Li, Y., Emelyanov, A., Ekker, M., Korzh, V., and Ge, R. (2001) fgfr3 and regionalization of anterior neural tube in zebrafish. Mech. Dev.. 102(1-2):213-217
Chevrette, M., Joly, L., Tellis, P., Knapik, E.W., Miles, J., Fishman, M., and Ekker, M. (2000) Characterization of a zebrafish/mouse somatic cell hybrid panel. Genomics. 64(1):119-26
Long, Q., Quint, E., Lin, S., and Ekker, M. (2000) The zebrafish scyba gene encodes a novel CXC-type chemokine with distinctive expression patterns in the vestibulo-acoustic system during embryogenesis. Mech. Dev.. 97(1-2):183-186
Quint, E., Zerucha, T., and Ekker, M. (2000) Differential expression of orthologous Dlx genes in zebrafish and mice: implications for the evolution of the Dlx homeobox gene family. J. Exp. Zool.. 288(3):235-241
Zerucha, T. and Ekker, M. (2000) Distal-less-related homeobox genes of vertebrates: evolution, function, and regulation. Biochem. Cell Biol.. 78(5):593-601
Zerucha, T., Stuhmer, T., Hatch, G., Park, B.K., Long, Q., Yu, G., Gambarotta, A., Schultz, J.R., Rubenstein, J.L., and Ekker, M. (2000) A highly conserved enhancer in the Dlx5/Dlx6 intergenic region is the site of cross-regulatory interactions between dlx genes in the embryonic forebrain. J. Neurosci.. 20(2):709-721
Connors, S.A., Trout, J., Ekker, M., and Mullins, M.C. (1999) The role of tolloid/mini fin in dorsoventral pattern formation of the zebrafish embryo. Development. 126(14):3119-3130
Ekker, M. (1999) Saving zebrafish mutants. Bioessays. 21:94-98
Ekker, M., Ye, F., Joly, L., Tellis, P., and Chevrette, M. (1999) Zebrafish/mouse somatic cell hybrids for the characterization of the zebrafish genome. In The Zebrafish: Genetics and Genomics, H.W. Detrich, III, M. Westerfield, and L.I. Zon, eds., San Diego, CA: Academic Press, Methods Cell Biol.. 60:303-321
Hukriede N,A., Joly, L., Tsang, M., Miles, J., Tellis, P., Epstein, J.A., Barbazuk, W.B., Li, F.N., Paw, B., Postlethwait, J.H., Hudson, T.J., Zon, L.I., McPherson, J.D., Chevrette, M., Dawid, I.B., Johnson, S.L., and Ekker, M. (1999) Radiation hybrid mapping of the zebrafish genome. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 96(17):9745-9750
Martin, C.C., Laforest, L., Akimenko, M.-A., and Ekker, M. (1999) A role for DNA methylation in gastrulation and somite patterning. Dev. Biol.. 206:189-205
Amores, A., Force, A., Yan, Y.-L. Joly, L., Amemiya, C., Fritz, A., Ho, R., Langeland, J., Prince, V., Wang, Y.-L., Westerfield, M., Ekker, M., and Postlethwait, J.H. (1998) Zebrafish hox clusters and vertebrate genome evolution. Science.. 282:1711-1714
Knapik, E.W., Goodman, A., Ekker, M., Chevrette, M., Delgado, J., Neuhauss, S., Shimoda, N., Driever, W., Fishman, M.C., and Jacob, H.J. (1998) A microsatellite genetic linkage map for zebrafish (Danio rerio). Nature Genet.. 18:338-343
Laforest, L., Brown, C.W., Poleo, G., Géraudie, J., Tada, M., Ekker, M., and Akimenko, M.-A. (1998) Involvement of the Sonic hedgehog, patched 1, and bmp2 genes in patterning of the zebrafish dermal fin rays. Development. 125:4175-4184
Nguyen, V.H., Schmid, B., Trout, J., Connors, S.A., Ekker, M., and Mullins, M.C. (1998) Ventral and lateral regions of the zebrafish gastrula, including the neural crest progenitors, are established by bmp2b/swirl pathway of genes. Dev. Biol.. 199:93-110
Prince, V.E., Joly, L., Ekker, M., and Ho, R.K. (1998) Zebrafish hox genes: genomic organization and modified colinear expression patterns in the trunk. Development. 125:407-420
Chevrette, M., Joly, L., Tellis, P., and Ekker, M. (1997) Contribution of zebrafish-mouse cell hybrids to the mapping of the zebrafish genome. Biochem. Cell Biol.. 75:641-649
Ekker, M., Akimenko, M.-A., Allende, M.L., Smith, R., Drouin, G., Langille, R.M., Weinberg, E.S., and Westerfield, M. (1997) Relationships among msx gene structure and function in zebrafish and other vertebrates. Mol. Biol. Evol.. 14:1008-1022
Ellies, D.L., D.W. Stock, G. Hatch, G. Giroux, K.M. Weiss, and M. Ekker (1997) Relationship between the genomic organization and the overlapping embryonic expression patterns of the zebrafish dlx genes. Genomics. 45(3):580-590
Ellies, D.L., Langille, R.M., Martin, C.C., Akimenko, M.A., and Ekker, M. (1997) Specific craniofacial cartilage dysmorphogenesis coincides with a loss of dlx gene expression in retinoic acid-treated zebrafish embryos. Mech. Dev.. 61(1-2):23-36
Liu, D., Le Drean,Y., Ekker, M., Xiong, F., and Hew, C.L. (1997) Teleost FTZ-F1 homolog and its splicing variant determine the expression of the salmon gonadotropin IIbeta subunit gene. Mol. Endocrinol.. 11(7):877-890
Zerucha, T., Muller, J.-P., Chartrand, N., and Ekker, M. (1997) Cross-interactions between two members of the Dlx family of homeobox-containing genes during zebrafish development. Biochem. Cell Biol.. 75:613-622
Ekker, M., Speevak, M.D., Martin, C.C., Joly, L., Giroux, G., and Chevrette, M. (1996) Stable transfer of zebrafish chromosome segments into mouse cells. Genomics. 33:57-64
Shimoda, N., Chevrette, M., Ekker, M., Kikuchi, Y., Hotta, Y., and Okamoto, H. (1996) Mermaid, a family of short interspersed repetitive elements, is useful for zebrafish genome mapping. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.. 220:233-237
Stock, D.W., Ellies, D.L., Zhao, Z.Y., Ekker, M., Ruddle, F.H., and Weiss, K.M. (1996) The evolution of the vertebrate Dlx gene family. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 93(20):10858-10863
Akimenko, M.A. and Ekker, M. (1995) Anterior duplication of the Sonic hedgehog expression pattern in the pectoral fin buds of zebrafish treated with retinoic acid. Dev. Biol.. 170:243-247
Akimenko, M.A., Johnson, S.L., Westerfield, M., and Ekker, M. (1995) Differential induction of four msx homeobox genes during fin development and regeneration in zebrafish. Development. 121:347-357
Akimenko, M.A., Ekker, M., Wegner, J., Lin, W., and Westerfield, M. (1994) Combinatorial expression of three zebrafish genes related to distal-less: part of a homeobox gene code for the head. J. Neurosci.. 14:3475-3486
Westerfield, M., Akimenko, M.A., Ekker, M., and Püschel, A. (1993) Eyes, ears and homeobox genes in zebrafish embryos. In Molecular Basis of Morphogenesis, M. Bernfield, ed., New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Wiley-Liss Division. 67-75
Ekker, M., Akimenko, M.A., BreMiller, R., and Westerfield, M. (1992) Regional expression of three homeobox transcripts in the inner ear of zebrafish embryos. Neuron. 9:27-35
Ekker, M., Fritz, A., and Westerfield, M. (1992) Identification of two families of satellite-like repetitive DNA sequences from the zebrafish (Brachydanio rerio). Genomics. 13:1169-1173
Ekker, M., Wegner, J., Akimenko, M.A., and Westerfield, M. (1992) Coordinate embryonic expression of three zebrafish engrailed genes. Development. 116:1001-1010
Ekker, M. and Akimenko, M.A. (1991) Embryology and genetics of the zebrafish, Brachydanio rerio. Int. J. Bio. Med.. 7:553-560
Ekker, M., Akimenko, M.A., BreMiller, R., and Westerfield, M. (1991) Characterization of four homeobox genes expressed in zebrafish neural crest. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr.. 17:924
Westerfield, M., Wegner, J., Akimenko, M., Ekker, M., Eisen, J., and Halpern, M. (1991) A role for engrailed gene in zebrafish muscle patterning. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr.. 17:761
Akimenko, M.A., Ekker, M., and Westerfield, M. (1990) Characterization of three zebrafish genes related to Hox-7. In Developmental Patterning of the Vertebrate Limb, J.R. Hinchliffe, J. Hurle and D. Summerbell, eds., New York: Plenum Press. 61-63

Non-Zebrafish Publications: