Abstract
Lampreys represent one of two extant jawless vertebrates (cyclostomes) that diverged from jawed vertebrates over 500 million years ago. They are aquatic inhabitants with elongated, eel-shaped bodies and lack paired fins. Instead of jaws, lampreys possess a disc-shaped oral funnel armored with horny teeth. Their larvae, called ammocoetes, exhibit worm-like morphology without the orbits or the oral funnel. From their unique phylogenetic position with curious morphological and developmental traits, lampreys have been widely regarded as a valuable cyclostome model, especially for the study of early vertebrate evolution. However, the accessibility of lamprey embryos is limited because of the difficulty of artificial breeding in the laboratory, which is also seasonally limited. Moreover, their GC-rich DNA sequences have prevented cloning of some genes, as well as genome projects. In this chapter, we illustrate the handling method for the Japanese lamprey, Lethenteron japonicum, and describe the currently available techniques of whole-mount and section in situ hybridizations. We further provide examples of double staining of in situ hybridization combined with neuronal labeling and immunohistochemistry. These techniques allow us to illuminate not only the lamprey developmental mechanisms but also the early evolution of the vertebrates.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Heimberg AM, Cowper-Sallari R, Semon M, Donoghue PCJ, Peterson KJ (2010) microRNAs reveal the interrelationships of hagfish, lampreys, and gnathostomes and the nature of the ancestral vertebrate. PNAS 107(45):19379–19383
Oisi Y, Ota KG, Kuraku S, Fujimoto S, Kuratani S (2013) Craniofacial development of hagfishes and the evolution of vertebrates. Nature 493(7431):175–180
Kuraku S, Kuratani S (2006) Time scale for cyclostome evolution inferred with a phylogenetic diagnosis of hagfish and lamprey cDNA sequences. Zool Sci 23(12):1053–1064
Kuratani S, Kuraku S, Murakami Y (2002) Lamprey as an evo-devo model: lessons from comparative embryology and molecular phylogenetics. Genesis 34(3):175–183
Gess RW, Coates MI, Rubidge BS (2006) A lamprey from the Devonian period of South Africa. Nature 443(7114):981–984
Renaud CB, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2011) Lampreys of the world : an annotated and illustrated catalogue of lamprey species known to date. FAO species catalogue for fishery purposes, vol 5. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome
Hardisty MW (1979) Biology of the cyclostomes. Chapman and Hall, London
Shimeld SM, Donoghue PCJ (2012) Evolutionary crossroads in developmental biology: cyclostomes (lamprey and hagfish). Development 139(12):2091–2099
Nikitina N, Bronner-Fraser M, Sauka-Spengler T (2009) The sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus: a model for evolutionary and developmental biology. Cold Spring Harb Protoc 2009(1): pdb emo113. doi: 10.1101/pdb.emo113
Kobayashi W, Yamamoto TS (1994) Fertilization of the lamprey (Lampetra japonica) eggs – implication of the presence of fast and permanent blocks against polyspermy. J Exp Zool 269(2):166–176
Ciereszko A, Glogowski J, Dabrowski K (2000) Fertilization in landlocked sea lamprey: storage of gametes, optimal sperm: egg ratio, and methods of assessing fertilization success. J Fish Biol 56(6):1568
Steinberg M (1957) A nonnutrient culture medium for amphibian embryonic tissues. Carnegie Inst Washington Year Book 56:347–348
Piavis GW (1961) Embryological stages in the sea lamprey and effects of temperature on development. US Fish Wildl Serv Fish Bull 61:111–143
Sugahara F, Aota S, Kuraku S, Murakami Y, Takio-Ogawa Y, Hirano S, Kuratani S (2011) Involvement of Hedgehog and FGF signalling in the lamprey telencephalon: evolution of regionalization and dorsoventral patterning of the vertebrate forebrain. Development 138(6):1217–1226
Tahara Y (1988) Normal stages of development in the lamprey, Lampetra reissneri (Dybowski). Zool Sci 5(1):109–118
Serra JA (1946) Histochemical tests for proteins and amino acids – the characterization of basic proteins. Stain Technol 21(1):5–18
Smith JJ, Kuraku S, Holt C, Sauka-Spengler T, Jiang N, Campbell MS, Yandell MD, Manousaki T, Meyer A, Bloom OE, Morgan JR, Buxbaum JD, Sachidanandam R, Sims C, Garruss AS, Cook M, Krumlauf R, Wiedemann LM, Sower SA, Decatur WA, Hall JA, Amemiya CT, Saha NR, Buckley KM, Rast JP, Das S, Hirano M, McCurley N, Guo P, Rohner N, Tabin CJ, Piccinelli P, Elgar G, Ruffier M, Aken BL, Searle SM, Muffato M, Pignatelli M, Herrero J, Jones M, Brown CT, Chung-Davidson YW, Nanlohy KG, Libants SV, Yeh CY, McCauley DW, Langeland JA, Pancer Z, Fritzsch B, de Jong PJ, Zhu B, Fulton LL, Theising B, Flicek P, Bronner ME, Warren WC, Clifton SW, Wilson RK, Li W (2013) Sequencing of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) genome provides insights into vertebrate evolution. Nat Genet 45(4):415–421
Lauter G, Soll I, Hauptmann G (2011) Two-color fluorescent in situ hybridization in the embryonic zebrafish brain using differential detection systems. BMC Dev Biol. doi:10.1186/1471-213x-11-43
Sauka-Spengler T, Bronner-Fraser M, Meulemans D, Jones M (2007) Ancient evolutionary origin of the neural crest gene regulatory network. Dev Cell 13(3):405–420
Cerny R, Medeiros DM, Cattell M, Sauka-Spengler T, Bronner-Fraser M, Yu FQ (2010) Evidence for the prepattern/cooption model of vertebrate jaw evolution. PNAS 107(40):17262–17267
Trinh LA, McCutchen MD, Bonner-Fraser M, Fraser SE, Bumm LA, McCauley DW (2007) Fluorescent in situ hybridization employing the conventional NBT/BCIP chromogenic stain. Biotechniques 42(6):756–759
McCauley DW, Bronner-Fraser M (2006) Importance of SoxE in neural crest development and the evolution of the pharynx. Nature 441(7094):750–752
Glover JC (1995) Retrograde and anterograde axonal tracing with fluorescent dextran amines in the embryonic nervous system. Neurosci Prot 30:1–13
Murakami Y, Pasqualetti M, Takio Y, Hirano S, Rijli FM, Kuratani S (2004) Segmental development of reticulospinal and branchiomotor neurons in lamprey: insights into the evolution of the vertebrate hindbrain. Development 131(5):983–995
Oury F, Murakami Y, Renaud JS, Pasqualetti M, Charnay P, Ren SY, Rijli FM (2006) Hoxa2- and rhombomere-dependent development of the mouse facial somatosensory map. Science 313(5792):1408–1413
Kuratani S, Ueki T, Aizawa S, Hirano S (1997) Peripheral development of cranial nerves in a cyclostome, Lampetra japonica: morphological distribution of nerve branches and the vertebrate body plan. J Comp Neurol 384(4):483–500
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Dr. Shigeki Hirano and Dr. Rie Kusakabe for establishing the artificial fertilization techniques for the lamprey. We also thank Dr. Yoko Takio-Ogawa and Dr. Shigehiro Kuraku for technical advice about whole-mount in situ hybridization.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Sugahara, F., Murakami, Y., Kuratani, S. (2015). Gene Expression Analysis of Lamprey Embryos. In: Hauptmann, G. (eds) In Situ Hybridization Methods. Neuromethods, vol 99. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2303-8_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2303-8_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2302-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2303-8
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols