PUBLICATION

Surgical Size Reduction of Zebrafish for the Study of Embryonic Pattern Scaling

Authors
Ishimatsu, K., Cha, A., Collins, Z.M., Megason, S.G.
ID
ZDB-PUB-190521-7
Date
2019
Source
Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE   (147): (Journal)
Registered Authors
Megason, Sean
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • General Surgery/methods*
  • Morphogenesis/physiology*
  • Zebrafish/embryology*
PubMed
31107459 Full text @ J. Vis. Exp.
Abstract
In the developmental process, embryos exhibit a remarkable ability to match their body pattern to their body size; their body proportion is maintained even in embryos that are larger or smaller, within certain limits. Although this phenomenon of scaling has attracted attention for over a century, understanding the underlying mechanisms has been limited, owing in part to a lack of quantitative description of developmental dynamics in embryos of varied sizes. To overcome this limitation, we developed a new technique to surgically reduce the size of zebrafish embryos, which have great advantages for in vivo live imaging. We demonstrate that after balanced removal of cells and yolk at the blastula stage in separate steps, embryos can quickly recover under the right conditions and develop into smaller but otherwise normal embryos. Since this technique does not require special equipment, it is easily adaptable, and can be used to study a wide range of scaling problems, including robustness of morphogen mediated patterning.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping