Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 14, 2026
Small Molecule Screening and Toxicity Testing in Early-stage Zebrafish Larvae
Published on: March 7, 2025
Chemical genetic effects of Sargassum wightii during embryonic development in zebrafish
Rajaretinam Rajesh Kannan1, Appadurai Muthamil Iniyan2, Samuel Gnana Prakash Vincent2
1Molecular Nanomedicine and Neuroscience Research Unit, Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Sathyabama University, Chennai, India ; International Centre for Nanobiotechnology, Centre for Marine Science and Technology Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Rajakkamangalam, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India.
Objective:
Phenotype based small molecule discovery is a category of chemical genetic study. The aim of this study was to observe the phytochemical based genetic effects of Sargassum wightii during organogenesis in embryonic zebrafish.
Materials And Methods:
The phytomolecules from S. wightii were extracted using organic solvents and treated with the 24 h old developing zebrafish embryos. The active extract was partially purified by column chromatography, C18 Sep-Pak column and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.
Results:
Initially, cardiac bulging was found in 2 dpf to 3 dpf (days post fertilization), then bradycardia and tubular heart were observed in the next 8 h, which also showed the reduction in the heart beat rates. The phenotypic mutation effects of bre, has, dou yan, heg and you were observed in the 3 dpf and 4 dpf of the extract treated zebrafish embryos.
Conclusions:
This study demonstrated that the phytomolecules from S. wightii exhibited potential molecular switches on the developmental process, which might have significant role in understanding the development based chemical genetic studies in zebrafish.
