PUBLICATION

ß-lactamase as a marker for gene expression in live zebrafish embryos

Authors
Raz, E., Zlokarnik, G., Tsien, R.Y., and Driever, W.
ID
ZDB-PUB-981208-28
Date
1998
Source
Developmental Biology   203: 290-294 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Driever, Wolfgang, Raz, Erez
Keywords
zebrafish; ß-lactamase; dominant marker
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Biomarkers*
  • Fluoresceins/metabolism
  • Fluorescence
  • Fluorescent Dyes/metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental/genetics*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic/genetics
  • Genes, Reporter/genetics
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins
  • Lactams*
  • Luminescent Proteins/genetics
  • Zebrafish/embryology*
  • beta-Lactamases/genetics*
  • beta-Lactams/metabolism
PubMed
9808780 Full text @ Dev. Biol.
Abstract
In this report we describe the development of a sensitive assay for gene expression in zebrafish embryos using beta-lactamase as a reporter gene. We show that injection of a green fluorescent substrate for beta-lactamase allows the detection of reporter gene expression in live embryos. The beta-lactamase enzyme catalyzes the hydrolysis of the substrate, thereby disrupting fluorescence resonance energy transfer from the donor to the acceptor dye in the molecule. As a result, a blue fluorescent product is produced and retained specifically in cells within which the enzyme is expressed. beta-Lactamase is therefore suitable for monitoring spatially restricted patterns of gene expression in the early embryo. We suggest that this new reporter system provides a major advancement in sensitivity over the existing methods for monitoring gene expression in vivo during early embryogenesis.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping