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Craniofacial skeleton of Mexican tetra (Astyanax mexicanus): As a bone disease model.

Developmental Dynamics 2018 November 20
A small fresh water fish, the Mexican tetra (Astyanax mexicanus) is a novel animal model in evolutionary developmental biology. The existence of morphologically distinct surface and cave morphs of this species allows simultaneous comparative analysis of phenotypic changes at different life stages. The cavefish harbours many favourable constructive traits (i.e. large jaws with an increased number of teeth, neuromast cells, enlarged olfactory pits and excess storage of adipose tissues) and regressive traits (i.e. reduced eye structures and pigmentation) which are essential for cave adaptation. A wide spectrum of natural craniofacial morphologies can be observed among the different cave populations. Recently, the Mexican tetra has been identified as a human disease model. The fully sequenced genome along with modern genome editing tools has allowed researchers to generate transgenic and targeted gene knockouts with phenotypes that resemble human pathological conditions. This review will discuss the anatomy of the craniofacial skeleton of A. mexicanus with a focus on morphologically variable facial bones, jaws that house continuously replacing teeth and pharyngeal skeleton. Further, the possible applications of this model animal in identifying human congenital and metabolic skeletal disorders is addressed. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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