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Cited by 72melanin and skin pigmentationZebrafish Biomedical Research ApplicationsDevelopmental Biology and Gene Regulation

Iridophores as a source of robustness in zebrafish stripes and variability in Danio patterns

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Volkening, Alexandria, Sandstede, Björn·2018·Nature Communications
DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-05629-zPMC PMC6089994
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Abstract

Zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) feature black and yellow stripes, while related Danios display different patterns. All these patterns form due to the interactions of pigment cells, which self-organize on the fish skin. Until recently, research focused on two cell types (melanophores and xanthophores), but newer work has uncovered the leading role of a third type, iridophores: by carefully orchestrated transitions in form, iridophores instruct the other cells, but little is known about what drives their form changes. Here we address this question from a mathematical perspective: we develop a model (based on known interactions between the original two cell types) that allows us to assess potential iridophore behavior. We identify a set of mechanisms governing iridophore form that is consistent across a range of empirical data. Our model also suggests that the complex cues iridophores receive may act as a key source of redundancy, enabling both robust patterning and variability within Danio .

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  • The few of these cells that transitioned from a nascent dense morphology to a loose morphology occurred already within prospective stripe regions.

    “Contrary to the expectations of the morphogenetic respecification model12,20, the few of these cells that transitioned from a nascent dense morphology to a loose morphology occurred already within prospective stripe regions.”

    From In situ differentiation of iridophore crystallotypes underlies zebrafish stripe patterning (2020) · cites this paper as [20]

    The Results section (‘Deriving proposed iridophore form change mechanisms’; page unavailable) describes dense iridophores becoming loose and spreading outward during stripe development, supporting the model expectation invoked by the citation. It does not report that only a few cells made this transition or that they were already within prospective stripe regions when they did so. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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Research works printed but not linked: 52

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Volkening, A., & Sandstede, B.
Affiliations
Brown University (US)
Corresponding author
Volkening, Alexandria
ORCID
Venue
Nature Communications
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2018-08-13
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
3231-3231
ISSN
2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/s41467-018-05629-z
PMC
PMC6089994
OpenAlex
W2885731571
Cited by
72
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 2
FWCI
3.97
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Science Foundation (DMS-1148284, DGE-0228243, DMS-1440386, DMS-0907904, DMS-1409742)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › melanin and skin pigmentation
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Zebrafish Biomedical Research Applications
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
Keywords
iridophores, melanophores, xanthophores, zebrafish, morphogen gradients
MeSH terms
Animals, Chromatophores, Computer Simulation, Models, Biological, Pigmentation, Zebrafish

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