The formation of the central nervous system depends on the coordinated development of neural and glial cell types that arise from a common precursor. Using an existing group of zebrafish mutants generated by viral insertion, we performed a “shelf-screen” to identify genes necessary for astroglial development and axon scaffold formation. We screened 274 of 315 viral insertion lines using antibodies that label axons (anti-Acetylated Tubulin) and astroglia (anti-Gfap) and identified 25 mutants with defects in gliogenesis, glial patterning, neurogenesis, and axon guidance. We also identified a novel class of mutants affecting radial glial cell numbers. Defects in astroglial patterning were always associated with axon defects, supporting an important role for axon-glial interactions during axon scaffold development. The genes disrupted in these viral lines have all been identified, providing a powerful new resource for the study of axon guidance, glio- and neurogenesis, and neuron-glial interactions during development of the vertebrate CNS.
- Zebrafish,
- insertional mutants,
- axon guidance,
- astroglia,
- radial glia,
- glia,
- POC,
- chiasm,
- motor axon,
- hindbrain,
- neurogenesis,
- gliogenesis,
- Gfap
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/rolf_karlstrom/3/
DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.22393
This article was harvested from BioMed Central.