FIG. 1.

Factors involved in the development of the melanocyte lineage in zebrafish. Embryonic precursors of the melanocyte lineage can be identified by specific markers. sox2 is expressed in the developing ectoderm, and becomes down-regulated at the edge of the neural plate from where the crest cells emerge. sox10 is an early marker of specified neural crest cells of the pigment lineage, and is not seen in nonectomesenchymal crest derivatives (i.e., craniofacial skeleton). The committed melanoblast temporally expresses sox10 then mitfa, followed by markers of differentiation such as dopachrome tautomerase (dct) and tyrosinase (tyr).