The microRNA-producing enzyme Dicer1 is essential for zebrafish development
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Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Generation of Maternal Mutants Using zpc:cas9 Knock-in Zebrafish
Published on: July 22, 2025
Erno Wienholds1, Marco J Koudijs, Freek J M van Eeden
1Department of Functional Genomics, Hubrecht Laboratory, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are produced by the Dicer1 enzyme; the role of Dicer1 in vertebrate development is unknown. Here we report target-selected inactivation of the dicer1 gene in zebrafish. We observed an initial build-up of miRNA levels, produced by maternal Dicer1, in homozygous dicer1 mutants, but miRNA accumulation stopped after a few days. This resulted in developmental arrest around day 10. These results indicate that miRNA-producing Dicer1 is essential for vertebrate development.

