Pigment Cell Progenitors in Zebrafish Remain Multipotent through Metamorphosis

Area of Science:

• Developmental Biology
• Cell Biology
• Evolutionary Biology

Background:

• The neural crest is a transient, multipotent embryonic cell population in vertebrates.
• Postembryonic neural crest progenitors give rise to diverse adult cell types, but their fate restriction is poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the fate restriction of neural crest-derived stem cells and intermediate progenitors in zebrafish.
• To determine when pigment cell progenitors become fate restricted and understand their lineage segregation.

Main Methods:

• Inducing clones in sox10-expressing cells in zebrafish.
• Tracing and quantitatively comparing pigment cell progenitors at four developmental stages (embryogenesis to metamorphosis).

Main Results:

• A significant fraction of neural crest progenitors remain multipotent throughout development, including into metamorphosis.
• Multipotent progenitors exhibit high proliferation, which decreases as they become fate restricted.
• Identified three distinct adult pigment cell types: melanophores, iridophores, and xanthophores.

Conclusions:

• Neural crest progenitor multipotency persists into metamorphosis, impacting pigment cell development.
• The extended multipotency of nerve-associated progenitors may have facilitated the evolution of vertebrate adult-specific traits.