prdm1a mutant vs. wild type

The PR domain containing 1a, with ZNF domain factor, gene prdm1a plays an integral role in the development of a number of different cell types during vertebrate embryogenesis, including neural crest cells, Rohon-Beard (RB) sensory neurons and the cranial neural crest-derived craniofacial skeletal elements. To better understand how Prdm1a regulates the development of various cell types in zebrafish, we performed a microarray analysis comparing wild type and prdm1a mutant embryos and identified a number of genes with altered expression in the absence of prdm1a. Rescue analysis determined that two of these, sox10 and islet1, lie downstream of Prdm1a in the development of neural crest cells and Rohon-Beard neurons, respectively. In addition, we identified a number of other novel downstream targets of Prdm1a that may be important for the development of diverse tissues during zebrafish embryogenesis. RNA was isolated from whole zebrafish embryos at 25hpf, three replicates each for wildtype and prdm1a mutant embryos.