Two myristoylated alanine-rich C-kinase substrate (MARCKS) paralogs are required for normal development in zebrafish

Myristoylated alanine-rich C-kinase substrate (MARCKS) is an actin binding protein substrate of protein kinase C (PKC) and critical for mouse and Xenopus development. Herein two MARCKS paralogs, marcksa and marcksb, are identified in zebrafish and the role of these genes in zebrafish development is evaluated. Morpholino-based targeting of either MARCKS protein resulted in increased mortality and a range of gross phenotypic abnormalities. Phenotypic abnormalities were classified as mild, moderate or severe, which is characterized by a slight curve of a full-length tail, a severe curve or twist of a full-length tail and a truncated tail, respectively. All three phenotypes displayed abnormal neural architecture. Histopathology of Marcks targeted embryos revealed abnormalities in retinal layering, gill formation and skeletal muscle morphology. These results demonstrate that Marcksa and Marcksb are required for normal zebrafish development and suggest that zebrafish are a suitable model to further study MARCKS function.