A zebrafish homolog of the serum response factor gene is highly expressed in differentiating embryonic myocytes

Serum response factor (SRF) was identified as an activity binding upon seru m stimulation of HeLa cells to a motif known as the serum response element in the c-fos promoter. This element is also found in the regulatory regions of many muscle-specific genes. We have characterized srf expression during early zebrafish embryogenesis. In addition to low-level expression in many or even all cells, elevated levels of srf RNA and protein are transiently expressed in skeletal muscle lineages during their differentiation. (C) 199 9 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.