Hedgehog signaling patterns the outgrowth of unpaired skeletal appendages in zebrafish.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Little is known about the control of the development of vertebrate unpaired appendages such as the caudal fin, one of the key morphological specializations of fishes. Recent analysis of lamprey and dogshark median fins suggests the co-option of some molecular mechanisms between paired and median in Chondrichthyes. However, the extent to which the molecular mechanisms patterning paired and median fins are shared remains unknown.

Results

Here we provide molecular description of the initial ontogeny of the median fins in zebrafish and present several independent lines of evidence that Sonic hedgehog signaling emanating from the embryonic midline is essential for establishment and outgrowth of the caudal fin primordium. However, gene expression analysis shows that the

SUBMITTER: Hadzhiev Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1950712 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature