B1 sox (sox2/3/19a/19b) quadruple knockdown in the zebrafish embryo

The B1 SOX transcription factors SOX1/2/3/19 have been implicated in various processes of early embryogenesis. However, their regulatory functions in stages from the blastula to early neurula remain largely unknown, primarily because loss-of-function studies have not been informative to date. In our present study, we systematically knocked down the B1 sox genes in zebrafish. Only the quadruple knockdown of the four B1 sox genes sox2/3/19a/19b, which are active in the early embryo, resulted in very severe developmental abnormalities, confirming that the B1 sox genes are functionally redundant. We characterized the sox2/3/19a/19b quadruple knockdown embryos in detail by examining the changes in gene expression through microarray analysis as well as in situ hybridization.

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Okuda Y, Ogura E, Kondoh H, Kamachi Y