Characterization of the aglomerular kidney in the bay pipefish Syngnathus leptorhynchus

In this investigation, the embryos of the aglomerular species Syngnathus leptorhynchus were used to clone the first gene from this species, NaKATPase alpha1a.4. This allowed for the synthesis of an antisense DNP RNA probe for the fluorescent visualization of the aglomerular kidney in situ in the embryos of S. leptorhynchus through fluorescence in situ hybridization. This visualization represents the first visualization of the aglomerular kidney in situ and allowed for the study of aglomerular kidney architecture. Confocal microscopy work on embryos expressing NaKATPase alpha1a.4 fluorescently allowed for the collection of maximal projection two dimensional confocal images as well as the development of three dimensional isosurface models. The Syngnathus leptorhynchus embryonic developmental staging chart was expanded through field collection of embryonic stages and compared to developmental staging charts of Danio rerio and Oryzias latipes . These field collections allowed for the visualization of NaKATPase alpha1a.4 expression across embryonic developmental stages of S. leptorhynchus .