Zebrafish cytoskeletal beta-actin (actb2) promoter, isolated as part of a promoter set used to generate GFP-expressing transgenic zebrafish at high frequency, driving a whole-body pattern distinct from the muscle-restricted zebrafish alpha-actin promoter tested in the same study (Higashijima et al. 1997). Used as a constitutive, broadly active promoter for zebrafish reporter and transgenic lines.
Length: 5307 bp
Strength: strong
Tissue: Broad/ubiquitous across most tissues and developmental stages, though less consistent than the ubi promoter in blood cells and fin (Higashijima et al. 1997; Mosimann et al. 2011).
Expression: constitutive
Origin: Danio rerio (zebrafish) actb2 gene
Characteristics
Drives GFP expression throughout the body of transgenic zebrafish founder lines, in contrast to the co-tested zebrafish alpha-actin promoter, which is restricted to skeletal muscle (Higashijima et al. 1997). In later comparative transgenic work, beta-actin promoter fragments showed weak or progressively silenced activity in some adult tissues, including blood cells and fin, where the longer zebrafish ubiquitin (ubi) promoter remains active from the mid-blastula transition through adulthood (Mosimann et al. 2011).
Applications: Used to generate constitutive, broadly expressed reporter and marker transgenic zebrafish lines via founder-line screening for GFP and other fluorophores (Higashijima et al. 1997); serves as a standard ubiquitous reference promoter in zebrafish transgenesis and Tol2-based construct design.
Limitations: Expression can be mosaic or weaken in specific adult tissues, such as blood cells and fin, relative to the zebrafish ubi promoter, which stays active in these tissues throughout development and adulthood (Mosimann et al. 2011). As with other Tol2/plasmid-delivered zebrafish transgenes, expression depends on genomic integration site and copy number, so independent lines need individual validation.
Higashijima et al. (1997).
High-frequency generation of transgenic zebrafish which reliably express GFP in whole muscles or the whole body by using promoters of zebrafish origin.
Dev. Biol. - Higashijima 1997 Actin GFP
Mosimann et al. (2010).
Ubiquitous transgene expression and Cre-based recombination driven by the ubiquitin promoter in zebrafish.
Development - Mosimann 2010 Zebrafish ubi Promoter
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