Analysis of hpf1 expression and function in early embryonic development of zebrafish

About 70% of zebrafish (Danio rerio) genes are orthologues of the human's, which are of great interests, but still largely unknown for their functions. Recently, a report on human histone PARylation factor 1 (HPF1/C4orf27) showed that it is involved in DNA damage response along with poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1). However, its function in living organism remains unclear. Given that zebrafish has showed its values in modeling human diseases and physiology, we characterized a zebrafish homolog of human HPF1 by sequence alignment. We also analyzed its expression pattern during early development and among adult tissues. Furthermore, knocking down hpf1 by morpholinos affected zebrafish early development. Our work provides a novel clue for the mechanism of genome stability and early embryogenesis.