PUBLICATION

Iridophores and their interactions with other chromatophores are required for stripe formation in zebrafish

Authors

Frohnhöfer, H.G., Krauss, J., Maischein, H.M., and Nüsslein-Volhard, C.

ID

ZDB-PUB-130710-127

Date

2013

Source

Development (Cambridge, England) 140(14): 2997-3007 (Journal)

Registered Authors

Frohnhöfer, Hans Georg, Krauss, Jana, Maischein, Hans-Martin, Nüsslein-Volhard, Christiane

Keywords

iridophores, pigment pattern formation, shady, rose, Chimeras

MeSH Terms

Animals
Melanophores/metabolism*
Chromatophores/metabolism*
Body Patterning
Pigmentation*
Models, Biological
Zebrafish/embryology*
Zebrafish/genetics

(all 8)

PubMed

23821036 Full text @ Development

Abstract

Colour patterns of adult fish are produced by several types of pigment cells that distribute in the dermis during juvenile development. The zebrafish, Danio rerio, displays a striking pattern of dark stripes of melanophores interspersed by light stripes of xanthophores. Mutants lacking either cell type do not form proper stripes, indicating that interactions between these two chromatophore types are required for stripe formation. A third cell type, silvery iridophores, participates to render a shiny appearance to the pattern, but its role in stripe formation has been unclear. Mutations in rose (rse) or shady (shd) cause a lack or strong reduction of iridophores in adult fish; in addition, the melanophore number is drastically reduced and stripes are broken up into spots. We show that rse and shd are autonomously required in iridophores, as mutant melanophores form normal sized stripes when confronted with wild-type iridophores in chimeric animals. We describe stripe formation in mutants missing one or two of the three chromatophore types. None of the chromatophore types alone is able to create a pattern but residual stripe formation occurs with two cell types. Our analysis shows that iridophores promote and sustain melanophores. Furthermore, iridophores attract xanthophores, whereas xanthophores repel melanophores. We present a model for the interactions between the three chromatophore types underlying stripe formation. Stripe formation is initiated by iridophores appearing at the horizontal myoseptum, which serves as a morphological landmark for stripe orientation, but is subsequently a self-organising process.

Genes / Markers

Figures

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Expression

Fish	Conditions	Stage	Anatomy	Assay	Figure
ednrba^{tlf802/tlf802}; tdl358Et	standard conditions	Days 14-20	posterior lateral line nerve glial cell (sensu Vertebrata)	IFL	Fig. 5
ednrba^{tlf802/tlf802}; tdl358Et	standard conditions	Days 7-13	posterior lateral line nerve glial cell (sensu Vertebrata)	IFL	Fig. 5
ednrba^{tlf802/tlf802}; tdl358Et	standard conditions	Days 7-13	trunk iridophore	IFL	Fig. 5
ednrba^{tlf802/tlf802}; tdl358Et	standard conditions	Days 14-20	trunk iridophore	IFL	Fig. 5
ednrba^{tlf802/tlf802}; tdl358Et	standard conditions	Days 21-29	trunk iridophore	IFL	Fig. 5
tdl358Et	standard conditions	Days 7-13	posterior lateral line nerve glial cell (sensu Vertebrata)	IFL	Fig. 5
tdl358Et	standard conditions	Days 14-20	posterior lateral line nerve glial cell (sensu Vertebrata)	IFL	Fig. 5
tdl358Et	standard conditions	Days 21-29	trunk iridophore	IFL	Fig. 5
tdl358Et	standard conditions	Days 7-13	trunk iridophore	IFL	Fig. 5
tdl358Et	standard conditions	Days 14-20	trunk iridophore	IFL	Fig. 5

1 - 10 of 10

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Phenotype

Fish	Conditions	Stage	Phenotype	Figure
csf1ra^{tm236b/tm236b}	standard conditions	Days 14-20	trunk dermis lacks all parts of type xanthophore, abnormal	Fig. 8
csf1ra^{tm236b/tm236b}	standard conditions	Days 14-20	trunk iridophore mislocalised, abnormal	Fig. 8
csf1ra^{tm236b/tm236b}	standard conditions	Days 21-29	trunk dermis lacks all parts of type xanthophore, abnormal	Fig. 8
csf1ra^{tm236b/tm236b}	standard conditions	Days 21-29	trunk iridophore mislocalised, abnormal	Fig. 8
csf1ra^{tm236b/tm236b}	standard conditions	Days 30-44	trunk dermis lacks all parts of type xanthophore, abnormal	Fig. 8
csf1ra^{tm236b/tm236b}	standard conditions	Days 30-44	trunk iridophore mislocalised, abnormal	Fig. 8
csf1ra^{tm236b/tm236b}	standard conditions	Days 45-89	trunk dermis has fewer parts of type melanocyte, abnormal	Fig. 8
csf1ra^{tm236b/tm236b}	standard conditions	Days 45-89	trunk dermis lacks all parts of type xanthophore, abnormal	Fig. 8
csf1ra^{tm236b/tm236b}	standard conditions	Days 45-89	trunk iridophore mislocalised, abnormal	Fig. 8
csf1ra^{tm236b/tm236b}	standard conditions	Adult	trunk iridophore mislocalised, abnormal	Fig. 3

1 - 10 of 129

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Mutations / Transgenics

Allele	Construct	Type	Affected Genomic Region
j9s1		Point Mutation	ltk
tan17X		Point Mutation	ednrba
tdl358Et	Et(Ola.Edar:GAL4,14xUAS:GFP)	Transgenic Insertion
tlf802		Point Mutation	ednrba
tm26		Point Mutation	meox1
tm236b		Point Mutation	csf1ra
w2		Point Mutation	mitfa

1 - 7 of 7

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Human Disease / Model

Sequence Targeting Reagents

Fish

Fish
csf1ra^{tm236b/tm236b}
csf1ra^{tm236b/tm236b}; ltk^j9s1/j9s1
csf1ra^{tm236b/tm236b}; mitfa^w2/w2
ednrba^{tan17X/tan17X}
ednrba^{tlf802/tlf802}
ednrba^{tlf802/tlf802}; ltk^j9s1/j9s1
ednrba^{tlf802/tlf802}; tdl358Et
ltk^j9s1/j9s1
meox1^tm26/tm26
mitfa^w2/w2

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Antibodies

Orthology

Engineered Foreign Genes

Marker	Marker Type	Name
GAL4	EFG	GAL4
GFP	EFG	GFP

Mapping

Frohnhöfer et al., 2013 ZDB-PUB-130710-127 PMID:23821036

Iridophores and their interactions with other chromatophores are required for stripe formation in zebrafish

Frohnhöfer et al., 2013

ZDB-PUB-130710-127
PMID:23821036