PUBLICATION

A Transient Window Of Resilience During Early Development Minimizes Teratogenic Effects of Heat In Zebrafish Embryos

Authors
Menon, T., Nair, S.
ID
ZDB-PUB-180530-30
Date
2018
Source
Developmental Dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists   247(8): 992-1004 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Nair, Sreelaja
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Centrosome
  • DNA
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian/physiology*
  • Genome
  • Heat-Shock Response/genetics*
  • Hot Temperature/adverse effects*
  • Ploidies
  • Teratogenesis/physiology*
  • Zebrafish/embryology*
  • Zebrafish/genetics
  • Zygote
PubMed
29806169 Full text @ Dev. Dyn.
Abstract
Background Transient heat shock during early development is an established experimental paradigm for doubling the genome of the zebrafish zygote, which has practical applications in expedited identification of recessive mutations in genetic screens. Despite the simplicity of the strategy and the genetic tractability of zebrafish, heat shock has not been used for genome doubling since the proof-of-principle experiments done in the 1980s. This is because of poor survival of embryos that ensue from transient heat shocks and gross developmental abnormalities in the few survivors, which is incompatible with phenotype driven screens. Results We show that heat shocks during early zebrafish development uncouple the second cycle of DNA and centrosome duplication. Interestingly, the developmental time of the heat shock that triggers the dissociation between DNA and centrosome duplication cycles significantly affect the potential of embryos to survive and attain normal morphology. The potential to develop normally after a heat shock alters in a developmental time span of two minutes in zebrafish embryos, a phenomenon that has not been reported in any species. Conclusions The existence of heat resilient developmental windows and reduced heat teratogenicity during these windows could be an effective step forward in practical application of transient heat for experimental manipulation of ploidy in zebrafish. More broadly, heat resilience prior to zygotic genome activation suggests that metazoan embryos may possess innate protective features against heat beyond the canonical heat shock response. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Genes / Markers
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping