Taylor Stenzel

Development of the Huc/elavl3 YFp Transposon for Use in Zebrafish

Mentor: Bryan Pickett 

The objective of this project will be focused on the development of the Huc/elavl3 YFp transposon for use in zebrafish. We will be using the destination vector LR Huc YFP pBH (Michael Nonet Laboratory, Washington University St. Louis, personal communication). These are also called Bleeding Heart Vectors, as they allow the visualization of transgenesis via heart fluorescence. This technique will allow us to track newly differentiated neurons or sensory neural cells that are ultimately produced by a single transgenic mother cell. Transgenics will be confirmed by utilizing a cardiac myosin light chain promoter fused to red fluorescent protein that will produce fluorescence necessary for screening. After fish larvae with red hearts are identified after 3 days of poster fertilization growth, these transgenics will be followed for a further several weeks to determine if subsets of their nervous tissues begin to fluoresce as well. The fluorescent colors can be viewed in multiple color formats, however we expect a green-yellow fluorescence to appear, if the Huc/elavl3 gene promoter is active in transgenic cells.