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Updated: Apr 6, 2026
Assessing Species-specific Contributions To Craniofacial Development Using Quail-duck Chimeras
Published on: May 31, 2014
A transgenic quail model that enables dynamic imaging of amniote embryogenesis
David Huss1, Bertrand Benazeraf2, Allison Wallingford3
1Department of Radiology and Developmental Neuroscience Program, Saban Research Institute, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90027, USA Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
Abstract:
Embryogenesis is the coordinated assembly of tissues during morphogenesis through changes in individual cell behaviors and collective cell movements. Dynamic imaging, combined with quantitative analysis, is ideal for investigating fundamental questions in developmental biology involving cellular differentiation, growth control and morphogenesis. However, a reliable amniote model system that is amenable to the rigors of extended, high-resolution imaging and cell tracking has been lacking. To address this shortcoming, we produced a novel transgenic quail that ubiquitously expresses nuclear localized monomer cherry fluorescent protein (chFP). We characterize the expression pattern of chFP and provide concrete examples of how Tg(PGK1:H2B-chFP) quail can be used to dynamically image and analyze key morphogenetic events during embryonic stages X to 11.
