Developments in developmental genomics.
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Holly A Field
Publications and source records attributed to Holly A Field.
Formation of the digestive system in zebrafish. II. Pancreas morphogenesis.
Recent studies have suggested that the zebrafish pancreas develops from a single pancreatic anlage, located on the dorsal aspect of the developing gut. However, using a transgenic zebrafish line that expresses GFP throughout the endoderm, we report that, in fact, two pancreatic anlagen join to form the pancreas. One anlage is located on the dorsal aspect of the developing gut and is present by 24 h postfertilization (hpf), the second anlage is located on the ventral aspect of the developing gut in a position anterior to the dorsal anlage and is present by 40 hpf. These two buds merge by 52 hpf to form the pancreas. Using heart and soul mutant embryos, in which the pancreatic anlagen most often do not fuse, we show that the posterior bud generates only endocrine tissue, while the anterior bud gives rise to the pancreatic duct and exocrine cells. Interestingly, at later stages, the anterior bud also gives rise to a small number of endocrine cells usually present near the pancreatic duct. Altogether, these studies show that in zebrafish, as in the other model systems analyzed to date, the pancreas arises from multiple buds. To analyze whether other features of pancreas development are conserved and investigate the influence of surrounding tissues on pancreas development, we examined the role of the vasculature in this process. Contrary to reports in other model systems, we find that, although vascular endothelium is in contact with the posterior bud throughout pancreas development, its absence in cloche mutant embryos does not appear to affect the early morphogenesis or differentiation of the pancreas.
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Formation of the digestive system in zebrafish. I. Liver morphogenesis.
Despite the essential functions of the digestive system, much remains to be learned about the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for digestive organ morphogenesis and patterning. We introduce a novel zebrafish transgenic line, the gutGFP line, that expresses GFP throughout the digestive system, and use this tool to analyze the development of the liver. Our studies reveal two phases of liver morphogenesis: budding and growth. The budding period, which can be further subdivided into three stages, starts when hepatocytes first aggregate, shortly after 24 h postfertilization (hpf), and ends with the formation of a hepatic duct at 50 hpf. The growth phase immediately follows and is responsible for a dramatic alteration of liver size and shape. We also analyze gene expression in the developing liver and find a correlation between the expression of certain transcription factor genes and the morphologically defined stages of liver budding. To further expand our understanding of budding morphogenesis, we use loss-of-function analyses to investigate factors potentially involved in this process. It had been reported that no tail mutant embryos appear to lack a liver primordium, as assessed by gata6 expression. However, analysis of gutGFP embryos lacking Ntl show that the liver is in fact present. We also find that, in these embryos, the direction of liver budding does not correlate with the direction of intestinal looping, indicating that the left/right behavior of these tissues can be uncoupled. In addition, we use the cloche mutation to analyze the role of endothelial cells in liver morphogenesis, and find that in zebrafish, unlike what has been reported in mouse, endothelial cells do not appear to be necessary for the budding of this organ.
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From endoderm formation to liver and pancreas development in zebrafish.
Recent studies in zebrafish have contributed to our understanding of early endoderm formation in vertebrates. Specifically, they have illustrated the importance of Nodal signaling as well as three transcription factors, Faust/Gata5, Bonnie and Clyde, and Casanova, in this process. Ongoing genetic and embryological studies in zebrafish are also contributing to our understanding of later aspects of endoderm development, including the formation of the gut and its associated organs, the liver and pancreas. The generation of transgenic lines expressing GFP in these organs promises to be particularly helpful in such studies.
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