TY  - JOUR
TI  - Cloning and pattern of expression of the shiro-uo <I>vasa</I> gene during embryogenesis and its roles in PGC development
AU  - Miyake, Akimitsu
AU  - Saito, Taiju
AU  - Kashiwagi, Tohru
AU  - Ando, Daisuke
AU  - Yamamoto, Akitsugu
AU  - Suzuki, Tohru
AU  - Nakatsuji, Norio
AU  - Nakatsuji, Takako
T2  - The International Journal of Developmental Biology
AB  - The vasa genes are expressed in the germ cell lineage in many organisms, but their expression patterns show large variations. Recent studies suggest that vasa transcripts are involved in germ cell lineage development. In this paper, we isolated the vasa cDNA clone from a teleost, shiro-uo, Leucopsarion petersii and examined its expression pattern during embryogenesis. Then, we examined the functional significance of vasa mRNA during the formation of primordial germ cells (PGCs). The amino acid sequence of shiro-uo VASA is 61.1% identical to that of zebrafish. In whole-mount in situ hybridization, vasa transcripts appeared at the 4- and 8-cell stages as four spots at both ends of two cleavage planes between the lower tier of blastomeres and the yolk cell mass. At the 16-cell stage, eight spots were observed. After the blastula stage, shiro-uo vasa transcripts showed similar localization as in the zeblafish. Ultrastructural analysis of 4-cell stage embryos revealed the presence of a subcellular organelle that resembled 'nuage' in the germ cell lineage observed in the embryos of various organisms. We carried out micromanipulation of 4- or 8-cell stage embryos to remove the vasa mRNA-containig spots and then measured the number of the vasa-expressing PGCs in the genital ridge of the manipulated embryos. The numbers decreased when all of the four spots were removed, indicating that the vasa-containing spots at early cleavage stages have important functions in the development of PGCs.
PY  - 2006
DO  - 10.1387/ijdb.062172am
VL  - 50
IS  - 7
SP  - 619
EP  - 625
J2  - Int. J. Dev. Biol.
LA  - en
SN  - 0214-6282
SN  - 1696-3547
UR  - https://ijdb.ehu.eus/article/062172am
Y2  - 2024/11/05/13:15:46
ER  -