Abstract
Over the last thirty years, fish models, such as the zebrafish and medaka, have become essential to pursue developmental studies and model human disease. Community efforts have led to the generation of wide collections of mutants, a complete sequence of their genomes, and the development of sophisticated genetic tools, enabling the manipulation of gene activity and labelling and tracking of specific groups of cells during embryonic development. When combined with the accessibility and optical clarity of fish embryos, these approaches have made of them an unbeatable model to monitor developmental processes in vivo and in real time. Over the last few years, live-imaging studies in fish have provided fascinating insights into tissue morphogenesis and organogenesis. This review will illustrate the advantages of fish models to pursue morphogenetic studies by highlighting the findings that, in the last decade, have transformed our understanding of eye morphogenesis.
Highlights
Organogenesis is a highly orchestrated process that involves the coordination of cell fate specification and the morphogenesis of differentiating tissues to give rise to the final architecture of mature organs
When combined with the availability of transgenic tools to label specific tissues, cellular and subcellular structures, and the extensive array of embryological and genetic manipulations that can be performed in fish, the last few years have witnessed an explosion of imaging studies that provide detailed analysis of many organogenesis events
The power of live imaging to uncover cellular mechanisms driving tissue morphogenesis is best exemplified by the studies that, during the last 10 years, have transformed our understanding of eye morphogenesis
Summary
Organogenesis is a highly orchestrated process that involves the coordination of cell fate specification and the morphogenesis of differentiating tissues to give rise to the final architecture of mature organs. Tools have been developed to measure forces in developing tissues, and to manipulate molecular and mechanical cell properties, and assess their impact on morphogenesis [3,4] Tropical fish, such as zebrafish and medaka, are amongst the most popular model organisms to pursue this type of analysis. When combined with the availability of transgenic tools to label specific tissues, cellular and subcellular structures, and the extensive array of embryological and genetic manipulations that can be performed in fish, the last few years have witnessed an explosion of imaging studies that provide detailed analysis of many organogenesis events (see for example [5,6,7,8]). This review will focus on these studies and will provide a reflection of where these findings are taking us
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