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Pigment cell distributions in different tissues of the zebrafish, with special reference to the striped pigment pattern
Author(s) -
Hirata Masashi,
Nakamura KeiIchiro,
Kondo Shigeru
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
developmental dynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.634
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1097-0177
pISSN - 1058-8388
DOI - 10.1002/dvdy.20513
Subject(s) - pigment , biology , zebrafish , danio , microbiology and biotechnology , anatomy , genetics , gene , chemistry , organic chemistry
Abstract The orderly pigment pattern of zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) is a good model system for studying how spatial patterns form in animals. Recent molecular genetic studies have shown that interactions between the pigment cells play major roles in pattern formation. In the present study, we performed comparative transmission electron microscopy of pigment cells, in order to clarify the structural interactions of pigment cells in tissues with and without a striped pattern. In patterned tissues, pigment cells were distributed as a one‐cell‐thick sheet. The layer order of the sheets is always kept strictly. In tissues without a striped pattern, the layer order was often disturbed or the cells were distributed in a scattered, double‐sheeted, or an accumulated pile. Our observations suggest that the underlying mechanism that controls the vertical order of the pigment cells is related to that controlling the stripe pattern. Developmental Dynamics 234:293–300, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.