PUBLICATION

Dynamic microtubules at the vegetal cortex predict the embryonic axis in zebrafish

Authors
Tran, L.D., Hino, H., Quach, H., Lim, S., Shindo, A., Mimori-Kiyosue, Y., Mione, M., Ueno, N., Winkler, C., Hibi, M., and Sampath, K.
ID
ZDB-PUB-120907-9
Date
2012
Source
Development (Cambridge, England)   139(19): 3644-3652 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Hibi, Masahiko, Hino, Hiromu, Lim, Shi Min, Mione, Marina, Quach, Helen Ngoc Bao, Sampath, Karuna, Ueno, Naoto, Winkler, Christoph
Keywords
microtubule dynamics, polarity, embryonic axes, dorsoventral patterning, cortical rotation, wnt8a RNA, zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • Blastoderm/embryology
  • Blastoderm/metabolism
  • Body Patterning*/genetics
  • Calcium Signaling/physiology
  • Cerebral Cortex/embryology*
  • Cerebral Cortex/ultrastructure
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian
  • Female
  • Fertilization/physiology
  • Forecasting
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins/genetics
  • Male
  • Microtubules/physiology*
  • Sperm-Ovum Interactions/physiology
  • Xenopus
  • Zebrafish/embryology*
  • Zebrafish/genetics
PubMed
22949618 Full text @ Development
Abstract

In zebrafish, as in many animals, maternal dorsal determinants are vegetally localized in the egg and are transported after fertilization in a microtubule-dependent manner. However, the organization of early microtubules, their dynamics and their contribution to axis formation are not fully understood. Using live imaging, we identified two populations of microtubules, perpendicular bundles and parallel arrays, which are directionally oriented and detected exclusively at the vegetal cortex before the first cell division. Perpendicular bundles emanate from the vegetal cortex, extend towards the blastoderm, and orient along the animal-vegetal axis. Parallel arrays become asymmetric on the vegetal cortex, and orient towards dorsal. We show that the orientation of microtubules at 20 minutes post-fertilization can predict where the embryonic dorsal structures in zebrafish will form. Furthermore, we find that parallel microtubule arrays colocalize with wnt8a RNA, the candidate maternal dorsal factor. Vegetal cytoplasmic granules are displaced with parallel arrays by <20°, providing in vivo evidence of a cortical rotation-like process in zebrafish. Cortical displacement requires parallel microtubule arrays, and probably contributes to asymmetric transport of maternal determinants. Formation of parallel arrays depends on Ca2+ signaling. Thus, microtubule polarity and organization predicts the zebrafish embryonic axis. In addition, our results suggest that cortical rotation-like processes might be more common in early development than previously thought.

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