lunatic fringe regulates delta‐notch induction of hypochord in zebrafish

Abstract
Cells that occupy the midline of vertebrate embryos arise from a common population of precursors. Several lines of evidence indicate that Delta‐Notch signaling regulates specification of midline precursors for different fates. We show that zebrafish midline precursors transiently express lunatic fringe, which encodes a glycosyltransferase that modifies Notch activity in response to its ligands, and that lunatic fringe function is required for Delta‐Notch–mediated induction of hypochord cells at the lateral borders of the midline precursor domain. Development Dynamics 228:281–286, 2003.