PUBLICATION

An orthologue of the kit-related gene fms is required for development of neural crest-derived xanthophores and a subpopulation of adult melanocytes in the zebrafish, Danio rerio

Authors
Parichy, D.M., Ransom, D.G., Paw, B., Zon, L.I., and Johnson, S.L.
ID
ZDB-PUB-000629-2
Date
2000
Source
Development (Cambridge, England)   127(14): 3031-3044 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Johnson, Stephen L., Parichy, David M., Paw, Barry, Ransom, David G., Zon, Leonard I.
Keywords
melanocyte; xanthophore; zebrafish; pigment pattern; fms
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Cell Death/genetics
  • Cell Movement/genetics
  • Chromosome Mapping
  • Cloning, Molecular
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
  • Melanocytes/cytology
  • Melanocytes/physiology*
  • Mice
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutation
  • Neural Crest/cytology*
  • Neural Crest/growth & development
  • Oncogene Proteins/genetics
  • Osteoclasts/cytology
  • Osteoclasts/physiology
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit
  • Skin Pigmentation/genetics
  • Zebrafish/embryology
  • Zebrafish/genetics*
  • Zebrafish/growth & development
PubMed
10862741 Full text @ Development
Abstract
Developmental mechanisms underlying traits expressed in larval and adult vertebrates remain largely unknown. Pigment patterns of fishes provide an opportunity to identify genes and cell behaviors required for postembryonic morphogenesis and differentiation. In the zebrafish, Danio rerio, pigment patterns reflect the spatial arrangements of three classes of neural crest-derived pigment cells: black melanocytes, yellow xanthophores and silver iridophores. We show that the D. rerio pigment pattern mutant panther ablates xanthophores in embryos and adults and has defects in the development of the adult pattern of melanocyte stripes. We find that panther corresponds to an orthologue of the c-fms gene, which encodes a type III receptor tyrosine kinase and is the closest known homologue of the previously identified pigment pattern gene, kit. In mouse, fms is essential for the development of macrophage and osteoclast lineages and has not been implicated in neural crest or pigment cell development. In contrast, our analyses demonstrate that fms is expressed and required by D. rerio xanthophore precursors and that fms promotes the normal patterning of melanocyte death and migration during adult stripe formation. Finally, we show that fms is required for the appearance of a late developing, t-independent subpopulation of adult melanocytes. These findings reveal an unexpected role for fms in pigment pattern development and demonstrate that parallel neural crest-derived pigment cell populations depend on the activities of two essentially paralogous genes, kit and fms.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping