spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif ARCHIVE ANNOUNCEMENT! spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Morin-Kensicki, E. M.
Right arrow Articles by Eisen, J. S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Morin-Kensicki, E. M.
Right arrow Articles by Eisen, J. S.
Development 129, 3851-3860 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited

Segmental relationship between somites and vertebral column in zebrafish

Elizabeth M. Morin-Kensicki*, Ellie Melancon and Judith S. Eisen{dagger}

Institute of Neuroscience, 1254 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1254, USA
* Present address: Department of Genetics, Campus Box 7264, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7264, USA

{dagger}Author for correspondence (e-mail: eisen{at}uoneuro.uoregon.edu)

Accepted 17 May 2002

The segmental heritage of all vertebrates is evident in the character of the vertebral column. And yet, the extent to which direct translation of pattern from the somitic mesoderm and de novo cell and tissue interactions pattern the vertebral column remains a fundamental, unresolved issue. The elements of vertebral column pattern under debate include both segmental pattern and anteroposterior regional specificity. Understanding how vertebral segmentation and anteroposterior positional identity are patterned requires understanding vertebral column cellular and developmental biology. In this study, we characterized alignment of somites and vertebrae, distribution of individual sclerotome progeny along the anteroposterior axis and development of the axial skeleton in zebrafish. Our clonal analysis of zebrafish sclerotome shows that anterior and posterior somite domains are not lineage-restricted compartments with respect to distribution along the anteroposterior axis but support a ‘leaky’ resegmentation in development from somite to vertebral column. Alignment of somites with vertebrae suggests that the first two somites do not contribute to the vertebral column. Characterization of vertebral column development allowed examination of the relationship between vertebral formula and expression patterns of zebrafish Hox genes. Our results support co-localization of the anterior expression boundaries of zebrafish hoxc6 homologs with a cervical/thoracic transition and also suggest Hox-independent patterning of regionally specific posterior vertebrae.

Key words: Anteroposterior, Compartments, Hox expression, Resegmentation, Sclerotome, Segmentation, Somite, Vertebral column, Zebrafish






© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2002