Zebrafish atonal homologue zath3 is expressed during neurogenesis in embryonic development.
Basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcriptional activators function in development of various cell lineages, including the central nervous system. One of the bHLH proteins, Math3/Xath3/NeuroM, was suggested to act as a late proneural gene in the mouse, Xenopus, and chick. Here, we isolated a zebrafish homologue, named zath3, and analyzed its expression pattern in zebrafish embryos. In the neural plate, zath3 is expressed first in the primordia of the tegmentum and trigeminal ganglia and three classes of primary neurons: sensory neurons, interneurons, and motor neurons. During later development, zath3 transcripts were localized along the boundaries of the optic tectum in the midbrain and rhombomeres of the hindbrain. Analyses of zath3 expression in three mid-hindbrain boundary mutants, acerebellar, no isthmus, and spiel-ohne-grensen, indicated that distribution of zath3 mRNAs in the midbrain and hindbrain was dramatically disturbed. In addition, these mutants also affect expression of zath3 in the neuroretina.
Wang
Xukun
X
Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Emelyanov
Alexander
A
Korzh
Vladimir
V
Gong
Zhiyuan
Z
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000196:embryology*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018257:Helix-Loop-Helix Motifs / Q000235:genetics; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology*; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; C476737:neurod4 protein, zebrafish