Sp8 regulates inner ear development

Deficits in hearing or balance are common and result from both developmental and environmental causes. Model organisms have contributed many fundamental insights into embryonic development and we have added Xenopus tropicalis as a new genetically tractable organism in the field of inner ear development. As a result of a forward genetic screen in X. tropicalis, we have identified specificity protein 8, a new initiator of ear development, and analyzed mutant phenotypes and molecular interactions with genes that are involved in inner ear development. Given morphological and genetic similarities between inner ears of frog and mammals, the establishment of a new in vivo model system amenable to genetic manipulation will provide an important new tool to study vertebrate ear development.