“The mechanosensory lateral line detects water movement via clusters of hair cells positioned over the surface of the head and body in specialised structures called neuromasts (Coombs et al., 1989). The hair cells of the lateral line are virtually identical to those found in the inner ear, and they sense movement by deflection of stereocilia. Two lateral line nerves are found posterior to the otic vesicle: the middle lateral line nerve innervates the middle line, whereas the posterior nerve innervates the occipital dorsal and posterior trunk lines. “(Raible & Kruse, 2000).
“The posterior lateral line (PLL) of the trunk and tail arises from placodal cells that undergo partial epithelial-mesenchymal transition and acquire migratory properties. A group of about 100 of these cells, the PLL primordium (PLLP), undergoes caudally directed collective cell migration along the myoseptum, regularly depositing groups of ~20 cells that will differentiate as the accessory and hair cells of the mature neuromast (Metcalfe et al., 1985; Ghysen and Dambly- Chaudière, 2004). Prior to deposition, cells in the trailing zone of the primordium become organised into rosette-like epithelial structures that mature into pro-neuromasts, which are reiteratively formed and deposited every 3-4 hours. When the primordium reaches the end of the tail, it fragments into two or three terminal neuromasts. “(Valdivia et al., 2011)
Image by Leo Valdivia. The primordium of the posterior lateral line deposits neuromasts as it grows along the trunk to the tail. This image is of a 55hpf Tg(-8.0cldnb:lynEGFP)zf106 transgenic larvae. Nuclei are counterstained with propidium iodide.
Key publications
DAVID W. RAIBLE AND GREGORY J. KRUSE
Organization of the Lateral Line System in Embryonic Zebrafish
THE JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY 421:189–198 (2000)
Valdivia, L.E., Young, R.M., Hawkins, T.A., Stickney, H.L., Cavodeassi, F., Schwarz, Q., Pullin, L.M., Villegas, R., Moro, E., Argenton, F., Allende, M.L., and Wilson, S.W. (2011)
Lef1-dependent Wnt/β-catenin signalling drives the proliferative engine that maintains tissue homeostasis during lateral line development.
Development. 138(18):3931-3941.
McGraw, H.F., Drerup, C.M., Culbertson, M.D., Linbo, T., Raible, D.W., and Nechiporuk, A.V. (2011)
Lef1 is required for progenitor cell identity in the zebrafish lateral line primordium.
Development. 138(18):3921-3930.
Ghysen, A., and Dambly-Chaudière, C. (2007)
The lateral line microcosmos.
Genes and Development. 21(17):2118-2130.
Gompel, N., Cubedo, N., Thisse, C., Thisse, B., Dambly-Chaudière, C., and Ghysen, A. 2001.
Pattern formation in the lateral line of zebrafish.
Mech. Dev. 105: 69–77.
Gilmour, D., Knaut, H., Maischein, H.M., and Nusslein-Vol- hard, C. 2004.
Towing of sensory axons by their migrating target cells in vivo.
Nat. Neurosci. 7: 491–492.
Haas, P. and Gilmour, D. 2006.
Chemokine signaling mediates self-organizing tissue migration in the zebrafish lateral line.
Dev. Cell 10: 673–680.
Metcalfe, W.K., Kimmel, C.B., and Schabtach, E. 1985.
Anatomy of the posterior lateral line system in young larvae of the zebrafish.
J. Comp. Neurol. 233: 377–389.
Jacqueline F. Webb and Jonathan E. Shirey
Postembryonic Development of the Cranial Lateral Line Canals and Neuromasts in Zebrafish
DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS 228:370–385, 2003
Melanie Haehnel-Taguchi, António M. Fernandes, Margit Böhler, Ina Schmitt, LenaTittel1 and WolfgangDriever
Projections of the Diencephalospinal Dopaminergic System to Peripheral Sense Organs in Larval Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Front. Neuroanat., 19 March 2018 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnana.2018.00020
Jesús Pujol-Martí and Hernán López-Schier (Review Article)
Developmental and architectural principles of the lateral-line neural map
Front. Neural Circuits, 26 March 2013 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2013.00047
Manuel, R., Iglesias Gonzalez, A.B., Habicher, J., Koning, H.K., Boije, H. (2021)
Characterization of Individual Projections Reveal That Neuromasts of the Zebrafish Lateral Line are Innervated by Multiple Inhibitory Efferent Cells.
Frontiers in Neuroanatomy. 15:666109.
Bricaud, O., Chaar, V., Dambly-Chaudiere, C., and Ghysen, A. (2001)
Early efferent innervation of the zebrafish lateral line.
The Journal of comparative neurology. 434(3):253-261.