Digital Commons Network^™

Belladonna/(Lhx2) Is Required For Neural Patterning And Midline Axon Guidance In The Zebrafish Forebrain, Anandita Seth, Jay Culverwell, Mitch Walkowicz, Sabrina Toro, Jens M. Rick, Stephan Neuhauss, Zoltan M. Varga, Rolf O. Karlstrom

Biology Department Faculty Publication Series

Some of the earliest axon pathways to form in the vertebrate forebrain are established as commissural and retinal axons cross the midline of the diencephalon and telencephalon. To better understand axon guidance in the forebrain, we characterized the zebrafish belladonna (bel) mutation, which disrupts commissural and retinal axon guidance in the forebrain. Using a positional cloning strategy we determined that the bel locus encodes zebrafish Lhx2, a lim-homeodomain transcription factor expressed in the brain, eye, and fin buds. We show that bel(lhx2) function is required for patterning in the ventral forebrain and eye and that loss of bel …