Anat Akiva, Department of Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot
The zebrafish skeleton in a 30 days post fertilization larva.
The zebrafish bones start forming at the age of 5 days post fertilization with the first formation of the skull. The ossification will continue in a segmented fashion of the backbone from the distal to the proximal parts, whereas the tail will be the last to be formed. When the zebrafish reached the age of 30 days post fertilization it has already ossified all his bones.
The calcein is fluorescent marker which has high affinity to calcium ions. Immersing the living fish in calcein solution for several minutes, results in green fluorescent labeling of all the newly formed bones. Using this fluorescent indicator allows us to monitor in vivo the bone formation process.
