Developmental Genetics - Zebrafish (L3) Flashcards
Green fluorescent protein
AKA GFP. First found in jellyfish. Absorbs blue photons and fluoresces, emitting green photons of longer wavelength.
GFP fusion protein
The gene for GFP can now be inserted into a gene for a specific protein of interest to a scientist.
Two-chambered heart
Like other teleosts, adult zebrafish have a circulation system consisting of a two-chambered heart, one atrium and one ventricle, that receives blood from the systemic circuit. It then sends the blood on to the gills for gas exchange, then blood continues from the gills to the systemic.
Pec-Fin
Gills form as buds during the Pec-Fin stage of the late pharyngula period at about 60 hpf.
Cardiac Myosin Light Chain 2
AKA cmlc2. A labeled form of the motor protein myosin, specific to cardiac muscle cells.
cmlc-2 GFP fusion protein will be expressed for the life of the fish. Should make it easy to observe the contractions of the atrium and ventricle heart in the embryo.
Cardiac muscle cells
GFP labeled cardiac myosin is expressed in cardiac muscle cells in the myocardium of the atrium and ventricle of this zebrafish strain.
Draculin
AKA drl. Zinc finger protein expressed by hematopoietic stem cells and other embryonic blood cells, especially erythroblasts and macrophage cells in zebrafish embryos. Begins to fade in older embryos.
What cells is draculin expressed in?
Hematopoietic stem cells and other embryonic blood cells, especially erythroblasts and macrophages.
You will be able to see round, green fluorescing erythroblasts as they exit the heart and move through the head, trunk, and tail of the embryo.
Macrophages
Amoeba-like draculin-GFP expressing cells, responsible for phagocytosis of bacterial cells, and also for completing the destruction of those zebrafish cells that have died by apoptosis.
