The morphogenesis of the zebrafish heart initiates as the bilaterally positioned cardiac primordia migrate toward and fuse at the midline. Within a five-hour window of time after the fusion of the bilateral cardiac primordia, the heart grows from a two-dimensional disc-like structure to a three-dimensional long tubular structure. While many cellular events and molecular mechanisms critical for the migration of the bilateral cardiac primordia have been described, mechanisms governing heart tube elongation are mostly unknown. A few mutations affecting the formation of cardiac progenitor cells or heart tube elongation have been identified. We are using these mutants to further understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms required for primitive heart tube formation.

Cardiac Patterning

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