Development of the electric organ in embryos and larvae of the knifefish, Brachyhypopomus gauderio.

Development of the electric organ in embryos and larvae of the knifefish, Brachyhypopomus gauderio.
Dev Biol. 2020 Jul 17;:
Authors: Alshami IJJ, Ono Y, Correia A, Hacker C, Lange A, Scholpp S, Kawasaki M, Ingham PW, Kudoh T
Abstract
South American Gymnotiform knifefish possess electric organs that generate electric fields for electro-location and electro-communication. Electric organs in fish can be derived from either myogenic cells (myogenic electric organ/mEO) or neurogenic cells (neurogenic electric organ/nEO). To date, the embryonic development of EOs has remained obscure. Here we characterize the development of the mEO in the Gymnotiform bluntnose knifefish, Brachyhypopomus gauderio. We find that EO primordial cells arise during embryonic stages in the ventral edge of the tail myotome, translocate into the ventral fin and develop into syncytial electrocytes at early larval stages. We also describe a pair of thick nerve cords that flank the dorsal aorta, the location and characteristic morphology of which is reminiscent of the nEO in Apteronotid species, suggesting a common evolutionary origin of these tissues. Taken together, our findings reveal the embryonic origins of the mEO and provide a basis for elucidating the mechanisms of evolutionary diversification of electric charge generation by myogenic and neurogenic EOs.
PMID: 32687892 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Developmental Biology - July 16, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: Alshami IJJ, Ono Y, Correia A, Hacker C, Lange A, Scholpp S, Kawasaki M, Ingham PW, Kudoh T Tags: Dev Biol Source Type: research