The zebrafish organizer requires chordino (original) (raw)

Nature volume 387, pages 862–863 (1997)Cite this article

The dorsoventral pattern of vertebrate embryos is established and regulated by opposing gradients of ventralizing bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) and BMP antagonists1,2,3 (such as Chordin2,4, Noggin5,6 and Follistatin7,8 in the frog embryo) secreted by a dorsal organizer. In the zebrafish, Danio rerio, mutations in a number of genes that affect dorsoventral patterning of the early embryo have been identified9,10, but only two, dino and mercedes, are involved in dorsal specification11, with dino mutants displaying the stronger, ventralized phenotype. Here we show that the dino phenotype is caused by a mutation in the zebrafish chordin gene, revealing that Chordin is an essential component of the dorsal organizer. Furthermore, we provide evidence that Chordin and BMPs are antagonistic, not only at the protein level but also at the transcriptional level.

In a restriction-fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) linkage analysis of more than 400 mutant chromosomes, we saw no recombination between dino and chordin (Fig. 1b), indicating that dino and chordin are within 0.25 centimorgans (cM). The chordin complementary DNA from _din_tt250 mutant embryos has a deletion of 104 base pairs, causing a frame-shift predicted to produce a severely truncated protein (Fig. 1c). This truncated form has only the first 42 amino acids of the wild-type Chordin protein and completely lacks the cysteine-rich repeats.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 51 print issues and online access

$199.00 per year

only $3.90 per issue

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Additional access options:

References

  1. Graff, J. M., Thies, R. S., Song, J. J., Celeste, A. J. & Melton, D. A. Cell 79, 169–179 (1994).
    Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
  2. Sasai, Y., Lu, B., Steinbeisser, H. & De Robertis, E. M. Nature 376, 333–336 (1995).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  3. Hammerschmidt, M., Serbedzija, G. N. & McMahon, A. P. Genes Dev. 10, 2452–2461 (1996).
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  4. Piccolo, S. Y., Sasai, Y., Lu, B. & De Robertis, E. M. Cell 85, 589–598 (1996).
    Article Google Scholar
  5. Re'em-Kalma, Y., Lamb, T. & Frank, D. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 92, 12141–12145 (1995).
    Article ADS CAS PubMed Google Scholar
  6. Zimmerman, L. B. & Harland, R. M. Cell 85, 599–606 (1996).
    Article Google Scholar
  7. Hemmati-Brivanlou, A., Kelly, O. G. & Melton, D. A. Cell 77, 283–295 (1994).
    Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar
  8. Fainsod, A. et al. Mech. Dev. (in the press).
  9. Haffter, P. et al. Development 123, 1–36 (1996).
    CAS Google Scholar
  10. Driever, W. et al. Development 123, 37–46 (1996).
    CAS Google Scholar
  11. Hammerschmidt, M. et al. Development 123, 95–102 (1996).
    CAS Google Scholar
  12. Francois, V., Solloway, M., O'Neill, J. W., Emery, J. & Bier, E. Genes Dev. 8, 2602–2616 (1994).
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  13. Holley, S. A. et al. Nature 376, 249–253 (1995).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  14. Biehs, B., Francois, V. & Bier, E. Genes Dev. 10, 2922–2934 (1996).
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  15. Schulte-Merker, S., Eeden, F. V., Halpern, M. E., Kimmel, C. B. & Nüsslein-Volhard, C. Development 120, 1009–1015 (1994).
    CAS PubMed Google Scholar

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MPI für Entwicklungsbiologie, Spemannstrasse 35, 72076, Germany, Tübingen
    Stefan Schulte-Merker
  2. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University, New York, 10032, New York, USA
    Kevin J. Lee
  3. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA
    Andrew P. McMahon
  4. MPI für Immunbiologie, Stübeweg 51, 79108, Freiburg, Germany
    Matthias Hammerschmidt
  5. *To whom correspondence should be addressed,
    Matthias Hammerschmidt

Authors

  1. Stefan Schulte-Merker
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  2. Kevin J. Lee
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  3. Andrew P. McMahon
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  4. Matthias Hammerschmidt
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schulte-Merker, S., Lee, K., McMahon, A. et al. The zebrafish organizer requires chordino.Nature 387, 862–863 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/43092

Download citation

This article is cited by