Inhibitory interactions controlling organizer activity in fish

An experimental system allowing the observation of 2 active organizing centers during zebrafish development is described. It was achieved by injection into a single marginal cell at the 16-cell stage of TARAM-A-D mRNA. TARAM-A-D was previously described as the mutated constitutive form of a type I receptor for transforming growth factor beta. In 80% of the injected embryos, 2 distinct organizers were observed at the onset of gastrulation. At the end of gastrulation, these embryos showed duplicated axial structures. Nevertheless, only 25% of the injected embryos displayed a recognizable axis duplication after 1 day of development. This paradox is taken as an evidence for suppressive effects exerted in a reciprocal manner when more than 1 organizing center is present.