PUBLICATION
Pattern regulation in the stripe of zebrafish suggests an underlying dynamic and autonomous mechanism
- Authors
- Yamaguchi, M., Yoshimoto, E., and Kondo, S.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-070330-7
- Date
- 2007
- Source
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104(12): 4790-4793 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Kondo, Shigeru
- Keywords
- local self-enhancement and long-range inhibition, pigment patterns, reaction–diffusion mechanism
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Body Patterning/physiology*
- Computer Simulation
- Pigmentation/physiology*
- Regeneration
- Skin Physiological Phenomena
- Zebrafish/physiology*
- PubMed
- 17360399 Full text @ Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
Citation
Yamaguchi, M., Yoshimoto, E., and Kondo, S. (2007) Pattern regulation in the stripe of zebrafish suggests an underlying dynamic and autonomous mechanism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 104(12):4790-4793.
Abstract
The mechanism by which animal markings are formed is an intriguing problem that has remained unsolved for a long time. One of the most important questions is whether the positional information for the pattern formation is derived from a covert prepattern or an autonomous mechanism. In this study, using the zebrafish as the model system, we attempted to answer this classic question. We ablated the pigment cells in limited areas of zebrafish skin by using laser irradiation, and we observed the regeneration of the pigmentation pattern. Depending on the area ablated, different patterns regenerated in a specific time course. The regenerated patterns and the transition of the stripes during the regeneration process suggest that pattern formation is independent of the prepattern; furthermore, pattern formation occurs by an autonomous mechanism that satisfies the condition of "local self-enhancement and long-range inhibition." Because the zebrafish is the only striped animal for which detailed molecular genetic studies have been conducted, our finding will facilitate the identification of the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie skin pattern formation.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping