Ectopic expression of c-ski disrupts gastrulation and neural patterning in zebrafish

The c-ski proto-oncogene encodes a transcriptional regulator that has been implicated in the development of different tissues at different times during vertebrate development. We identified two novel paralogues of the c-ski gene family, skiA and skiB in zebrafish (Danio rerio). The skiA protein is maternal and ubiquitous while skiB is zygotic. Overexpression of SkiA or SkiB disrupted gastrulation and resulted in a dorsalized phenotype. In situ analyses suggested that overexpression of Ski leads to a slight expansion of dorsal-axial mesoderm, diminishment or loss of ventral mesoderm and radialization of dorsal neuroectoderm. The dorsalized phenotype could be rescued by the ventral specifying factor, BMP4. These results provide evidence that Ski proteins participate in dorsal-ventral specification of both neuroectoderm and mesoderm.