PUBLICATION

Conserved germ plasm characteristics across the Danio and Devario lineages

Authors
Hansen, C.L., Chamberlain, T.J., Trevena, R.L., Kurek, J.E., Pelegri, F.
ID
ZDB-PUB-211008-4
Date
2021
Source
Genesis (New York, N.Y. : 2000)   59(10): e23452 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Pelegri, Francisco
Keywords
Danionin, embryonic development, evolution, germline, primordial germ cells, zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Caenorhabditis elegans/genetics
  • Conserved Sequence/genetics
  • Drosophila/genetics
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian
  • Embryonic Development/genetics*
  • Evolution, Molecular*
  • Germ Cells/growth & development
  • Germ Cells/metabolism
  • Phylogeny
  • RNA/genetics*
  • RNA/isolation & purification
  • Xenopus laevis/genetics
  • Zebrafish/genetics*
PubMed
34617657 Full text @ Genesis
Abstract
In many animal species, germ cell specification requires the inheritance of germ plasm, a biomolecular condensate containing maternally derived RNAs and proteins. Most studies of germ plasm composition and function have been performed in widely evolutionarily divergent model organisms, such as Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila, Xenopus laevis, and Danio rerio (zebrafish). In zebrafish, 12 RNAs localize to germ plasm at the furrows of the early embryo. Here, we tested for the presence of these RNAs in three additional species within the Danionin clade: Danio kyathit, Danio albolineatus, and Devario aequipinnatus. By visualizing nanos RNA, we find that germ plasm segregation patterns during early embryogenesis are conserved across these species. Ten additional germ plasm RNAs exhibit localization at the furrows of early embryos in all three non-zebrafish Danionin species, consistent with germ plasm localization. One component of zebrafish germ plasm, ca15b, lacked specific localization in embryos of the more distantly related D. aequipinnatus. Our findings show that within a subset of closely related Danionin species, the vast majority of germ plasm RNA components are conserved. At the same time, the lack of ca15b localization in D. aequipinnatus germ plasm highlights the potential for the divergence of germ plasm composition across a restricted phylogenetic space.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping