Mtx2 dependent genes during Zebrafish gastrulation

Transcriptional profiling of Mtx2 morphants at 30% epiboly stage, shield stage and tailbud stage of embryonic development: Coordinated cell movements of gastrulation reshape the uniform blastula into a structured gastrula with three fundamental axes and an internal germ layer of mesoderm. Genetic regulation of the forces which drive gastrulation is incompletely understood. We employed a microarray screen in zebrafish for genes which participate in epibloy, and identified many with biochemical roles in endocytosis, microtubule remodeling, cell adhesion and transcription. For direct comparisons between mtx2 MO and std MO treated embryos, pair-wise hybridizations were performed for each of the three time points. For the shield and tailbud stage five biological replicates were generated for hybridization. Twelve biological replicates were generated for hybridization for the 30% epiboly stage. The microarray schema incorporated dye swapped hybridizations to account for dye bias.