The midbody component Prc1-like is required for microtubule reorganization during cytokinesis and dorsal determinant segregation in the early zebrafish embryo.

We show that the zebrafish maternal-effect mutation too much information (tmi) corresponds to zebrafish prc1-like (prc1l), which encodes a member of the MAP65/Ase1/PRC1 family of microtubule-associated proteins. Embryos from tmi homozygous mutant mothers display cytokinesis defects in meiotic and mitotic divisions in the early embryo, indicating that Prc1l has a role in midbody formation during cell division at the egg-to-embryo transition. Unexpectedly, maternal Prc1l function is also essential for the reorganization of vegetal pole microtubules required for the segregation of dorsal determinants. Whereas Prc1 is widely regarded to crosslink microtubules in an antiparallel conformation, our studies provide evidence for an additional function of Prc1l in the bundling of parallel microtubules in the vegetal cortex of the early embryo during cortical rotation and prior to mitotic cycling. These findings highlight common yet distinct aspects of microtubule reorganization that occur during the egg-to-embryo transition, driven by maternal product for the midbody component Prc1l and required for embryonic cell division and pattern formation.

Identification of maternal-effect genes in zebrafish using maternal crispants.

In animals, early development is dependent on a pool of maternal factors, both RNA and proteins, which are required for basic cellular processes and cell differentiation until zygotic genome activation. The role of the majority of these maternally expressed factors is not fully understood. By exploiting the biallelic editing ability of CRISPR-Cas9, we identify and characterize maternal-effect genes in a single generation, using a maternal crispant technique. We validated the ability to generate biallelic mutations in the germ line by creating maternal crispants that phenocopied previously characterized maternal-effect genes: birc5b, tmi and mid1ip1. Additionally, by targeting maternally expressed genes of unknown function in zebrafish, we identified two maternal-effect zebrafish genes, kpna7 and fhdc3. The genetic identity of these maternal crispants was confirmed by sequencing haploid progeny from F0 females, which allowed the analysis of newly induced lesions in the maternal germ line. Our studies show that maternal crispants allow for the effective identification and primary characterization of maternal-effect genes in a single generation, facilitating the reverse genetics analysis of maternal factors that drive embryonic development.

Zebrafish sin3b mutants are viable but have size, skeletal, and locomotor defects.

BACKGROUND: The transcriptional co-repressor Sin3 is highly conserved from yeast to vertebrates and has multiple roles controlling cell fate, cell cycle progression, and senescence programming. Sin3 proteins recruit histone deacetylases and other chromatin modifying factors to specific loci through interactions with transcription factors including Myc, Rest, p53 and E2F. Most vertebrates have two Sin3 family members (sin3a and sin3b), but zebrafish have a second sin3a paralogue. In mice, sin3a and sin3b are essential for embryonic development. Sin3b knockout mice show defects in growth as well as bone and blood differentiation. RESULTS: To study the requirement for Sin3b during development, we disrupted zebrafish sin3b using CRISPR-Cas9, and studied the effects on early development and locomotor behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Surprisingly, Sin3b is not essential in zebrafish. sin3b mutants show a decrease in fitness, small size, changes to locomotor behavior, and delayed bone development. We did not detect a role for Sin3b in cell proliferation. Our analysis of the sin3b mutant revealed a more nuanced requirement for zebrafish Sin3b than would be predicted from analysis of mutants in other species. Developmental Dynamics 246:946-955, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Maternal Rest/Nrsf Regulates Zebrafish Behavior through snap25a/b.

UNLABELLED: During embryonic development, regulation of gene expression is key to creating the many subtypes of cells that an organism needs throughout its lifetime. Recent work has shown that maternal genetics and environmental factors have lifelong consequences on diverse processes ranging from immune function to stress responses. The RE1-silencing transcription factor (Rest) is a transcriptional repressor that interacts with chromatin-modifying complexes to repress transcription of neural-specific genes during early development. Here we show that in zebrafish, maternally supplied rest regulates expression of target genes during larval development and has lifelong impacts on behavior. Larvae deprived of maternal rest are hyperactive and show atypical spatial preferences. Adult male fish deprived of maternal rest present with atypical spatial preferences in a novel environment assay. Transcriptome sequencing revealed 158 genes that are repressed by maternal rest in blastula stage embryos. Furthermore, we found that maternal rest is required for target gene repression until at least 6 dpf. Importantly, disruption of the RE1 sites in either snap25a or snap25b resulted in behaviors that recapitulate the hyperactivity phenotype caused by absence of maternal rest Both maternal rest mutants and snap25a RE1 site mutants have altered primary motor neuron architecture that may account for the enhanced locomotor activity. These results demonstrate that maternal rest represses snap25a/b to modulate larval behavior and that early Rest activity has lifelong behavioral impacts. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Maternal factors deposited in the oocyte have well-established roles during embryonic development. We show that, in zebrafish, maternal rest (RE1-silencing transcription factor) regulates expression of target genes during larval development and has lifelong impacts on behavior. The Rest transcriptional repressor interacts with chromatin-modifying complexes to limit transcription of neural genes. We identify several synaptic genes that are repressed by maternal Rest and demonstrate that snap25a/b are key targets of maternal rest that modulate larval locomotor activity. These results reveal that zygotic rest is unable to compensate for deficits in maternally supplied rest and uncovers novel temporal requirements for Rest activity, which has implications for the broad roles of Rest-mediated repression during neural development and in disease states.

The histone chaperone Spt6 coordinates histone H3K27 demethylation and myogenesis.

Histone chaperones affect chromatin structure and gene expression through interaction with histones and RNA polymerase II (PolII). Here, we report that the histone chaperone Spt6 counteracts H3K27me3, an epigenetic mark deposited by the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) and associated with transcriptional repression. By regulating proper engagement and function of the H3K27 demethylase KDM6A (UTX), Spt6 effectively promotes H3K27 demethylation, muscle gene expression, and cell differentiation. ChIP-Seq experiments reveal an extensive genome-wide overlap of Spt6, PolII, and KDM6A at transcribed regions that are devoid of H3K27me3. Mammalian cells and zebrafish embryos with reduced Spt6 display increased H3K27me3 and diminished expression of the master regulator MyoD, resulting in myogenic differentiation defects. As a confirmation for an antagonistic relationship between Spt6 and H3K27me3, inhibition of PRC2 permits MyoD re-expression in myogenic cells with reduced Spt6. Our data indicate that, through cooperation with PolII and KDM6A, Spt6 orchestrates removal of H3K27me3, thus controlling developmental gene expression and cell differentiation.

Zebrafish rest regulates developmental gene expression but not neurogenesis.

The transcriptional repressor Rest (Nrsf) recruits chromatin-modifying complexes to RE1 'silencer elements', which are associated with hundreds of neural genes. However, the requirement for Rest-mediated transcriptional regulation of embryonic development and cell fate is poorly understood. Conflicting views of the role of Rest in controlling cell fate have emerged from recent studies. To address these controversies, we examined the developmental requirement for Rest in zebrafish using zinc-finger nuclease-mediated gene targeting. We discovered that germ layer specification progresses normally in rest mutants despite derepression of target genes during embryogenesis. This analysis provides the first evidence that maternal rest is essential for repression of target genes during blastula stages. Surprisingly, neurogenesis proceeds largely normally in rest mutants, although abnormalities are observed within the nervous system, including defects in oligodendrocyte precursor cell development and a partial loss of facial branchiomotor neuron migration. Mutants progress normally through embryogenesis but many die as larvae (after 12 days). However, some homozygotes reach adulthood and are viable. We utilized an RE1/NRSE transgenic reporter system to dynamically monitor Rest activity. This analysis revealed that Rest is required to repress gene expression in mesodermal derivatives including muscle and notochord, as well as within the nervous system. Finally, we demonstrated that Rest is required for long-term repression of target genes in non-neural tissues in adult zebrafish. Our results point to a broad role for Rest in fine-tuning neural gene expression, rather than as a widespread regulator of neurogenesis or cell fate.

Determining the Role of Maternally-Expressed Genes in Early Development with Maternal Crispants.

Early development depends on a pool of maternal factors incorporated into the mature oocyte during oogenesis that perform all cellular functions necessary for development until zygotic genome activation. Typically, genetic targeting of these maternal factors requires an additional generation to identify maternal-effect phenotypes, hindering the ability to determine the role of maternally-expressed genes during development. The discovery of the biallelic editing capabilities of CRISPR-Cas9 has allowed screening of embryonic phenotypes in somatic tissues of injected embryos or "crispants," augmenting the understanding of the role zygotically-expressed genes play in developmental programs. This article describes a protocol that is an extension of the crispant method. In this method, the biallelic editing of germ cells allows for the isolation of a maternal-effect phenotype in a single generation, or "maternal crispants." Multiplexing guide RNAs to a single target promotes the efficient production of maternal crispants, while sequence analysis of maternal crispant haploids provides a simple method to corroborate genetic lesions that produce a maternal-effect phenotype. The use of maternal crispants supports the rapid identification of essential maternally-expressed genes, thus facilitating the understanding of early development.

The role of the cytoskeleton in germ plasm aggregation and compaction in the zebrafish embryo.

The transmission of genetic information from one generation to another is crucial for survival of animal species. This is accomplished by the induction of primordial germ cells (PGCs) that will eventually establish the germline. In some animals the germline is induced by signals in gastrula, whereas in others it is specified by inheritance of maternal determinants, known as germ plasm. In zebrafish, aggregation and compaction of maternally derived germ plasm during the first several embryonic cell cycles is essential for generation of PGCs. These processes are controlled by cellular functions associated with the cellular division apparatus. Ribonucleoparticles containing germ plasm components are bound to both the ends of astral microtubules and a dynamic F-actin network through a mechanism integrated with that which drives the cell division program. In this chapter we discuss the role that modifications of the cell division apparatus, including the cytoskeleton and cytoskeleton-associated proteins, play in the regulation of zebrafish germ plasm assembly.

An Accessible Protocol for the Generation of CRISPR-Cas9 Knockouts Using INDELs in Zebrafish.

The ability to create targeted mutations in specific genes, and therefore a loss-of-function condition, provides essential information about their endogenous functions during development and homeostasis. The discovery that CRISPR-Cas9 can target specific sequences according to base-pair complementarity and readily create knockouts in a desired gene has elevated the implementation of genetic analysis in numerous organisms. As CRISPR-Cas9 has become a powerful tool in a number of species, multiple methods for designing, creating, and screening editing efficiencies have been published, each of which has unique benefits. This chapter presents a cost-efficient, accessible protocol for creating knockout mutants in zebrafish using insertions/deletions (INDELS), from target site selection to mutant propagation, using basic laboratory supplies. The presented approach can be adapted to other systems, including any vertebrate species.

Rest mutant zebrafish swim erratically and display atypical spatial preferences.

The Rest/Nrsf transcriptional repressor modulates expression of a large set of neural specific genes. Many of these target genes have well characterized roles in nervous system processes including development, plasticity and synaptogenesis. However, the impact of Rest-mediated transcriptional regulation on behavior has been understudied due in part to the embryonic lethality of the mouse knockout. To investigate the requirement for Rest in behavior, we employed the zebrafish rest mutant to explore a range of behaviors in adults and larva. Adult rest mutants of both sexes showed abnormal behaviors in a novel environment including increased vertical swimming, erratic swimming patterns and a proclivity for the tank walls. Adult males also had diminished reproductive success. At 6 days post fertilization (dpf), rest mutant larva were hypoactive, but displayed normal evoked responses to light and sound stimuli. Overall, these results provide evidence that rest dysfunction produces atypical swimming patterns and preferences in adults, and reduced locomotor activity in larvae. This study provides the first behavioral analysis of rest mutants and reveals specific behaviors that are modulated by Rest.