PUBLICATION

Faithful expression of a tagged Fugu WT1 protein from a genomic transgene in zebrafish: efficient splicing of pufferfish genes in zebrafish but not mice

Authors
Miles, C.G., Rankin, L., Smith, S.I., Niksic, M., Elgar, G., and Hastie, N.D.
ID
ZDB-PUB-030602-1
Date
2003
Source
Nucleic acids research   31(11): 2795-2802 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Elgar, Greg, Hastie, Nicholas D.
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Alternative Splicing*
  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified*
  • Gene Expression
  • Genome
  • Introns
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Inbred CBA
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Species Specificity
  • Takifugu/genetics*
  • Transgenes
  • WT1 Proteins/biosynthesis
  • WT1 Proteins/genetics*
  • Zebrafish/genetics*
PubMed
12771206 Full text @ Nucleic Acids Res.
Abstract
The teleost fish are widely used as model organisms in vertebrate biology. The compact genome of the pufferfish, Fugu rubripes, has proven a valuable tool in comparative genome analyses, aiding the annotation of mammalian genomes and the identification of conserved regulatory elements, whilst the zebrafish is particularly suited to genetic and developmental studies. We demonstrate that a pufferfish WT1 transgene can be expressed and spliced appropriately in transgenic zebrafish, contrasting with the situation in transgenic mice. By creating both transgenic mice and transgenic zebrafish with the same construct, we show that Fugu RNA is processed correctly in zebrafish but not in mice. Furthermore, we show for the first time that a Fugu genomic construct can produce protein in transgenic zebrafish: a full-length Fugu WT1 transgene with a C-terminal beta-galactosidase fusion is spliced and translated correctly in zebrafish, mimicking the expression of the endogenous WT1 gene. These data demonstrate that the zebrafish:Fugu system is a powerful and convenient tool for dissecting both vertebrate gene regulation and gene function in vivo.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping