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Reporter genes are a type of protein-coding gene that are often tagged to a gene of interest. Once inside a target cell, reporter genes usually produce visually identifiable characteristics like fluorescence and luminescence when expressed along with the gene of interest. Thus, reporter genes “report” the presence or absence of genes of interest in an organism, determine the gene expression pattern, or track the physical location of a DNA segment or protein in the cell.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 1, 2026

Microinjection of Medaka Embryos for use as a Model Genetic Organism

Microinjection of Medaka Embryos for use as a Model Genetic Organism

Published on: December 22, 2010

MEPD: medaka expression pattern database, genes and more.

Juan I Alonso-Barba¹, Raza-Ur Rahman², Joachim Wittbrodt³

¹Department of Computing Systems, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete, 02071, Spain.

Nucleic Acids Research

|October 10, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The Medaka Expression Pattern Database (MEPD) now offers a gene-centric view and integrates regulatory element data. This enhances comparative analysis between medaka and zebrafish gene expression patterns.

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Area of Science:

Developmental Biology
Genomics
Bioinformatics

Background:

The Medaka Expression Pattern Database (MEPD) serves as a crucial repository for medaka gene expression data.
Previous versions utilized a clone-centric approach, limiting comprehensive analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

To enhance the MEPD by implementing a gene-centric view for in situ data.
To expand the database's capacity to include regulatory elements like promoters and enhancers.
To facilitate cross-species comparisons of gene expression between medaka and zebrafish.

Main Methods:

Re-architected the database for a gene-centric view, linking all data to medaka gene annotations in ENSEMBL.
Integrated orthologous gene information between medaka and zebrafish using ENSEMBL.
Established links to the Zebrafish Model Organism Database (ZFIN) for comparative analysis.
Modified database design to accommodate regulatory element expression data alongside gene expression.

Main Results:

Successfully transitioned MEPD to a gene-centric data organization.
Enabled direct comparison of medaka and zebrafish expression patterns through ENSEMBL and ZFIN integration.
Expanded MEPD to include expression data for regulatory elements (promoters, enhancers).
Ensured annotation consistency by hosting both gene and regulatory element expression data on a single platform.

Conclusions:

The updated MEPD provides a more powerful and integrated platform for medaka research.
The gene-centric view and cross-species comparison capabilities facilitate deeper understanding of gene regulation.
The inclusion of regulatory element data allows for novel insights into the interplay between regulatory elements and gene expression domains.