Abstract
OBJECTIVES: A study was conducted to explore the expression pattern and function of ferritin heavy polypeptide gene (fth1b) in zebrafish pharyngeal teeth development and lay the foundation for subsequent research on teeth development and mineralization. METHODS: The zebrafish embryos were harvested at 56, 72, 96, and 120 h after fertilization. The expression of fth1b in zebrafish pharyngeal teeth development was detected by whole embryo in situ hybridization and compared with the known pharyngeal teeth marker dlx2b. The specific knockout of fth1b gene was performed using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 gene editing technology. The development of zebrafish pharyngeal teeth was detected in the fth1b(-/-) mutant. RESULTS: The expression pattern of fth1b gene was very similar to that of the known zebrafish pharyngeal teeth marker dlx2b and was specifically expressed in the zebrafish pharyngeal teeth during development. After the specific knockout of the gene fth1b, the earliest gene that can be detect in zebrafish pharyngeal teeth-pitx2 was expressed normally during early development. The dlx2b expression was not significantly different from that of wild type zebrafish, but the mineralization of pharyngeal teeth in the mutant was weaker than that of wild type zebrafish. CONCLUSIONS: The gene fth1b is specifically expressed in zebrafish pharyngeal teeth and acts on their early mineralization.