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- Title
Mosaic hoxb4a Neuronal Pleiotropism in Zebrafish Caudal Hindbrain.
- Authors
Leung-Hang Ma; Punnamoottil, Beena; Rinkwitz, Silke; Baker, Robert
- Abstract
To better understand how individual genes and experience influence behavior, the role of a single homeotic unit, hoxb4a, was comprehensively analyzed in vivo by clonal and retrograde fluorescent labeling of caudal hindbrain neurons in a zebrafish enhancer-trap YFP line. A quantitative spatiotemporal neuronal atlas showed hoxb4a activity to be highly variable and mosaic in rhombomere 7-8 reticular, motoneuronal and precerebellar nuclei with expression decreasing differentially in all subgroups through juvenile stages. The extensive Hox mosaicism and widespread pleiotropism demonstrate that the same transcriptional protein plays a role in the development of circuits that drive behaviors from autonomic through motor function including cerebellar regulation. We propose that the continuous presence of hoxb4a positive neurons may provide a developmental plasticity for behavior-specific circuits to accommodate experience- and growth-related changes. Hence, the ubiquitous hoxb4a pleitropism and modularity likely offer an adaptable transcriptional element for circuit modification during both growth and evolution.
- Publication
PLoS ONE, 2009, Vol 4, Issue 6, p1
- ISSN
1932-6203
- Publication type
Academic Journal
- DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0005944