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Francisco Pelegri

Associate Professor of Genetics

Francisco Pelegri
Lab Home Page:
Pelegri Lab
Address:
2424 Genetics/Biotech
Telephone:
265-9286
Email:
fjpelegri@wisc.edu
Research Fields:
Developmental Genetics
Zebrafish
Gene Expression

Ph.D., M.I.T., 1994

Postdoctoral Research: Max-Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tuebingen, Germany

Research Interests

Embryonic patterning, germ line determination, intracellular segregation

Research Description

The goal of our research program is to understand at the cellular and molecular level processes involved in early vertebrate development, specifically but not exclusively the functional diversification of cell types. We use the zebrafish, Danio rerio, as a model system because it allows combining genetic, embryological and molecular approaches. In the zebrafish, as in many other animal species, all developmental processes that occur prior to the activation of the zygotic genome at the mid-blastula transition, as well as some processes that occur after this transition, are driven by maternal factors stored in the egg during oogenesis. We focus on the analysis of genes that produce such maternal factors and which are involved in cell fate decisions such as the determination of the germ line, the dorsal axis, and the embryonic germ layers. Because in the zebrafish the segregation of germ cell fate determinants is intimately linked to the process of cellular division, we also focus on the analysis of genes and subcellular events required for cytokinesis.

Representative Publications

  • Yabe, T., Ge. X., Lindeman R., Nair, S., Runke G., Mullins M.C., and Pelegri, F. 2009. The maternal-effect gene cellular island encodes Aurora B kinase and is essential for furrow formation in the early zebrafish embryo. PloS Genetics 5, e1000518.
  • Yabe, T., Ge, X. and F. Pelegri. 2007. The zebrafish maternal-effect gene cellular atoli encodes the centriolar component Sas-6 and defects in its paternal function promote whole genome duplication. Developmental Biology, 312:44-60.
  • Urven, L., Yabe, T. and F. Pelegri. 2006. A role for non-muscle myosin II function in furrow maturation in the early zebrafish embryo. Journal of Cell Science. 119:4342-4352.
  • Lyman-Gingerich, J., Lindeman, R., Putiri, E., Stolzmann, K. and Pelegri, F. 2006. The analysis of axis induction mutant embryos reveals morphogenetic movements associated with zebrafish yolk extension. Developmental Dynamics. 235:2749-2760.
  • Theusch, E.V., Brown, K.J. and Pelegri, F. 2006. Separate pathways of RNA recruitment lead to the compartmentalization of the zebrafish germ plasm. Developmental Biology. 292:129-141.
  • Lyman-Gingerich, J., Westfall, T.A., Slusarski, D.C. and Pelegri, F. 2005. hecate, a zebrafish maternal effect gene, affects dorsal organizer induction and intracellular calcium transient frequency. Developmental Biology. 286:427-439.