Expression of the zinc finger gene fez-like in zebrafish forebrain

Anterior-posterior (A-P) patterning in the neuroectoderm is established dur ing gastrulation in zebrafish and amphibians. We isolated a novel zinc-fing er gene fez-like (fezl) from zebrafish, which displays sequence similaritie s to Xenopus Fez. The fezl transcripts were detected in the anterior edge o f neuroectoderm, the prospective dorsal forebrain, from the late gastrula ( 80% epiboly stage) to the mid-segmentation period. fezl was also expressed in the ventral forebrain overlying the prechordal plate at these stages. Th e expression of fezl was enhanced in embryos expressing the Wnt inhibitor D kk1 and reduced in embryos expressing Wnt8b. The expression in the ventral forebrain was eliminated in the one-eyed pinhead mutant and the antivin RNA -injected embryos, which lack the prechordal plate. Radiation hybrid mappin g revealed that the fezl gene is localized to linkage group ii. (C) 2000 El sevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.