PUBLICATION

The zebrafish neckless mutation reveals a requirement for raldh2 in mesodermal signals that pattern the hindbrain

Authors

Begemann, G., Schilling, T.F., Rauch, G.J., Geisler, R., and Ingham, P.W.

ID

ZDB-PUB-011002-4

Date

2001

Source

Development (Cambridge, England) 128(16): 3081-3094 (Journal)

Registered Authors

Begemann, Gerrit, Geisler, Robert, Ingham, Philip, Rauch, Gerd-Jörg, Schilling, Tom

Keywords

zebrafish; anteroposterior patterning; vitamin A deficiency; retinoic acid; retinoic acid receptor; craniofacial development; neural crest; raldh2; hoxb4

MeSH Terms

Notochord/embryology
Animals
Homeodomain Proteins/metabolism
Zebrafish Proteins/agonists
Mesoderm/metabolism*
In Situ Nick-End Labeling
Models, Genetic
Models, Biological
Retinal Dehydrogenase
Rhombencephalon/embryology
Rhombencephalon/metabolism*
Cloning, Molecular
Molecular Sequence Data
Mutation*
Tretinoin/metabolism
Tretinoin/pharmacology
Receptors, Retinoic Acid/metabolism
Neural Crest/embryology
Zebrafish
Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Amino Acid Sequence
In Situ Hybridization
Signal Transduction
Aldehyde Oxidoreductases/genetics*
Aldehyde Oxidoreductases/metabolism
Ectoderm/metabolism
Genetic Linkage
Phenotype
RNA, Messenger/metabolism
Transcription Factors/metabolism

PubMed

11688558 Full text @ Development

Abstract

We describe a new zebrafish mutation, neckless, and present evidence that it inactivates retinaldehyde dehydrogenase type 2, an enzyme involved in retinoic acid biosynthesis. neckless embryos are characterised by a truncation of the anteroposterior axis anterior to the somites, defects in midline mesendodermal tissues and absence of pectoral fins. At a similar anteroposterior level within the nervous system, expression of the retinoic acid receptor a and hoxb4 genes is delayed and significantly reduced. Consistent with a primary defect in retinoic acid signalling, some of these defects in neckless mutants can be rescued by application of exogenous retinoic acid. We use mosaic analysis to show that the reduction in hoxb4 expression in the nervous system is a non-cell autonomous effect, reflecting a requirement for retinoic acid signalling from adjacent paraxial mesoderm. Together, our results demonstrate a conserved role for retinaldehyde dehydrogenase type 2 in patterning the posterior cranial mesoderm of the vertebrate embryo and provide definitive evidence for an involvement of endogenous retinoic acid in signalling between the paraxial mesoderm and neural tube.

Genes / Markers

Figures