Conference Paper
Stable transgenesis in Astyanax mexicanus using the Tol2 transposase system
Stahl, B.A., Peuß, R., McDole, B., Kenzior, A., Jaggard, J.B., Gaudenz, K., Krishnan, J., McGaugh, S.E., Duboue, E.R., Keene, A.C. and Rohner, N.
Record Number:
4312
Year:
2019
Journal:
AIM 2019
Pages:
62
Abstract:
Astyanax mexicanus is a well-established fish model system for evolutionary and developmental
biology research. These fish exist as surface forms that inhabit rivers and 30 different populations
of cavefish. Despite important progress in the deployment of new technologies, deep mechanistic
insights into the genetic basis of evolution, development, and behavior have been limited by a
lack of transgenic lines commonly used in genetic model systems. Here, we expand the toolkit of
transgenesis by characterizing two novel stable transgenic lines that were generated using the
highly efficient Tol2 system, commonly used to generate transgenic zebrafish. A stable transgenic
line consisting of the zebrafish ubiquitin promoter expresses eGFP ubiquitously throughout
development in a surface population of Astyanax. To define specific cell-types, a Cntnap2-
mCherry construct labels lateral line mechanosensory neurons in zebrafish. Strikingly, both
constructs appear to label the predicted cell types, suggesting many genetic tools and defined
promoter regions in zebrafish are directly transferrable to cavefish. The lines provide proof-ofprinciple
for the application of Tol2 transgenic technology in A. mexicanus. Expansion on these
initial transgenic lines will provide a platform to address broadly important problems in the quest
to bridge the genotype-phenotype gap.
Times Cited:
1
Conference Name:
Astyanax Interrnational Meeting
Relevent Species: