Sc. Martin et al., ZEBRAFISH TRKC1 AND TRKC2 RECEPTORS DEFINE 2 DIFFERENT CELL-POPULATIONS IN THE NERVOUS-SYSTEM DURING THE PERIOD OF AXONOGENESIS, Developmental biology, 195(2), 1998, pp. 114-130
We identified previously fire distinct trk genes in the zebrafish. The
structures of two of these, TrkC1 and TrkC2, are most similar to mamm
alian TrkC. Detailed sequence comparisons reported here indicate that
although the similarities to TrkC are greatest in those regions of the
extracellular domain implicated in ligand binding, the two sequences
also differ significantly in these regions. Whole-mount in situ hybrid
ization experiments in the early embryo revealed full-length trkC1 but
no trkC2 transcripts in the cranial ganglia and in a subset of Rohon-
Beard neurons. At the same time, full-length trkC2 but no trkC1 transc
ripts were detected laterally in the spinal cord, in the caudal hindbr
ain, in reticulospinal neurons of rhombomeres 4, 5, and 6, and in the
midbrain. Both types of transcripts were expressed in clusters of cell
s in the dorsal telencephalon and the nucleus of the tract of the post
optic commissure. These results suggest distinct functions of trkC1 an
d trkC2 in nervous system development. The expression patterns define
two different neuronal populations in the Zebrafish. (C) 1998 Academic
Press.