PUBLICATION

Plasticity in zebrafish hox expression in the hindbrain and cranial neural crest

Authors
Schilling, T.F., Prince, V., and Ingham, P.W.
ID
ZDB-PUB-010205-2
Date
2001
Source
Developmental Biology   229: 201-216 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Ingham, Philip, Prince, Victoria E., Schilling, Tom
Keywords
zebrafish; Hox; neural crest; hindbrain; pharyngeal arch; rhombomere; segment
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Bone and Bones/embryology
  • Ectoderm/physiology
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental*
  • Homeodomain Proteins/genetics*
  • Neural Crest/metabolism*
  • Rhombencephalon/metabolism*
  • Xenopus Proteins*
  • Zebrafish/embryology*
  • Zebrafish Proteins*
PubMed
11180963 Full text @ Dev. Biol.
Abstract
The anterior-posterior identities of cells in the hindbrain and cranial neural crest are thought to be determined by their Hox gene expression status, but how and when cells become committed to these identities remain unclear. Here we address this in zebrafish by cell transplantation, to test plasticity in hox expression in single cells. We transplanted cells alone, or in small groups, between hindbrain rhombomeres or between the neural crest primordia of pharyngeal arches. We found that transplanted cells regulated hox expression according to their new environments. The degree of plasticity, however, depended on both the timing and the size of the transplant. At later stages transplanted cells were more likely to be irreversibly committed and maintain their hox expression, demonstrating a progressive loss of responsiveness to the environmental signals that specify segmental identities. Individual transplanted cells also showed greater plasticity than those lying within the center of larger groups, suggesting that a community effect normally maintains hox expression within segments. We also raised experimental embryos to larval stages to analyze transplanted cells after differentiation and found that neural crest cells contributed to pharyngeal cartilages appropriate to the anterior-posterior level of the new cellular environment. Thus, consistent with models implicating hox expression in control of segmental identity, plasticity in hox expression correlates with plasticity in final cell fate.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping