title: High magnetic field induced otolith fusion in the zebrafish larvae.
abstract: Magnetoreception in animals illustrates the interaction of biological systems with the geomagnetic field (geoMF). However, there are few studies that identified the impact of high magnetic field (MF) exposure from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners (>100,000 times of geoMF) on specific biological targets. Here, we investigated the effects of a 14 Tesla MRI scanner on zebrafish larvae. All zebrafish larvae aligned parallel to the B0 field, i.e. the static MF, in the MRI scanner. The two otoliths (ear stones) in the otic vesicles of zebrafish larvae older than 24 hours post fertilization (hpf) fused together after the high MF exposure as short as 2 hours, yielding a single-otolith phenotype with aberrant swimming behavior. The otolith fusion was blocked in zebrafish larvae under anesthesia or embedded in agarose. Hair cells may play an important role on the MF-induced otolith fusion. This work provided direct evidence to show that high MF interacts with the otic vesicle of zebrafish larvae and causes otolith fusion in an "all-or-none" manner. The MF-induced otolith fusion may facilitate the searching for MF sensors using genetically amenable vertebrate animal models, such as zebrafish.
authors.affiliation: High Field Magnetic Resonance Department, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, 72076, Germany.|IMPRS for Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience, Tübingen, 72076, Germany.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pais-Roldán
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, 72076, Germany.
authors.forename: Ajeet Pratap
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: High Field Magnetic Resonance Department, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, 72076, Germany.
authors.forename: Hildegard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.affiliation: High Field Magnetic Resonance Department, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, 72076, Germany.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D005839:Gentamicins / Q000633:toxicity; D006198:Hair Cells, Auditory / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D060526:Magnetic Fields; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D018715:Microscopy, Video; D010037:Otolithic Membrane / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects*; D010641:Phenotype; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D005839:Gentamicins