Live Imaging of Zebrafish Development

INTRODUCTION

In the last two decades, the small tropical freshwater-dwelling zebrafish has emerged as a popular model for developmental biologists. The exceptional optical accessibility of zebrafish embryos coupled with the ability to use genetic tools to indelibly tag cells have been exploited to watch developmental events as they unfold. Moreover, zebrafish are vertebrates. Thus, the knowledge gained through such studies is broadly applicable. This article outlines the advantages of using zebrafish to study development by in vivo microscopy, highlights the kinds of developmental questions that can be addressed, presents strategies for fluorescently labeling cellular and subcellular structures, and discusses general parameters that need to be taken into account for repetitive in vivo imaging.