Dlk1 dosage regulates hippocampal neurogenesis and cognition
Significance Generation of new neurons occurs normally in the adult brain in two locations: the subventricular zone (SVZ) in the walls of the lateral ventricles and the subgranular zone (SGZ) in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus. Neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus has been implicated in cognitive functions such as learning, memory, and recovery of stress response. Imprinted genes are highly prevalent in the brain and have adult and developmental important functions. Genetic deletion of the imprinted gene Dlk1 from either parental allele shows that DLK1 is a key mediator of quiescence in adult hippocampal NSCs. Additionally, Dlk1 is exquisitely dosage sensitive in the brain with p…
baz1b loss-of-function in zebrafish produces phenotypic alterations consistent with the domestication syndrome
BAZ1B is an ubiquitously expressed nuclear protein with roles in chromatin remodelling, DNA replication and repair, and transcription. Reduced baz1b expression disrupts neuronal and neural crest development. Variation in the activity of baz1b has been proposed to underly morphological and behavioural aspects of domestication through disruption of neural crest development. Knockdown of baz1b in Xenopus embryos and Baz1b loss of function (LoF) in mice leads to craniofacial defects consistent with this hypothesis. We generated baz1b LoF zebrafish using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to test the hypothesis that baz1b regulates behavioural phenotypes associated with domestication in addition to cranio…