---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
_id: '15016'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Amphibians, by virtue of their phylogenetic position, provide invaluable insights
on nervous system evolution, development, and remodeling. The genetic toolkit
for amphibians, however, remains limited. Recombinant adeno-associated viral vectors
(AAVs) are a powerful alternative to transgenesis for labeling and manipulating
neurons. Although successful in mammals, AAVs have never been shown to transduce
amphibian cells efficiently. We screened AAVs in three amphibian species—the frogs
Xenopus laevis and Pelophylax bedriagae and the salamander Pleurodeles waltl—and
identified at least two AAV serotypes per species that transduce neurons. In developing
amphibians, AAVs labeled groups of neurons generated at the same time during development.
In the mature brain, AAVrg retrogradely traced long-range projections. Our study
introduces AAVs as a tool for amphibian research, establishes a generalizable
workflow for AAV screening in new species, and expands opportunities for cross-species
comparisons of nervous system development, function, and evolution.
acknowledged_ssus:
- _id: PreCl
- _id: Bio
acknowledgement: 'We thank members of the Sweeney, Tosches, Shein-Idelson, Yamaguchi,
Kelley, and Cline Labs for their contributions to this project, discussion, and
support. We additionally thank the Beckman Institute CLOVER Center and Viviana Gradinaru
(Caltech), Kimberly Ritola (UNC NeuroTools), and Flavia Gomez-Leite (ISTA Viral
Core) for AAV production and consultation; Andras Simon and Alberto Joven (Karolinska
Institute) for feedback; Elizabeth Bagnato-Cohen (Columbia) for project coordination;
our animal care and imaging facilities; the amphibian stock centers (NXR, EXRC,
and XenopusExpress); and our funding sources: NSF IOS 2110086 (D.B.K., L.B.S., M.A.T.,
A.Y., and H.T.C.); US-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) 2020702 (M.S.-I.);
FTI Strategy Lower Austria Dissertation FT121-D-046 (D.V.); Horizon Europe ERC Starting
Grant 101041551 and Special Research Programme (SFB) of the Austrian Science Fund
(FWF) project F7814-B (L.B.S.); NIH grant R35GM146973, Rita Allen Foundation Award
GA_032522_FE, and CZI Ben Barres Early Career Acceleration Award 2023-331758 (M.A.T.);
EMBO Long-Term Fellowship ALTF 874-2021 (A.D.); and NSF GRFP DGE 2036197 (E.C.B.J.).'
article_processing_charge: Yes (via OA deal)
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Eliza C.B.
full_name: Jaeger, Eliza C.B.
last_name: Jaeger
- first_name: David
full_name: Vijatovic, David
id: cf391e77-ec3c-11ea-a124-d69323410b58
last_name: Vijatovic
- first_name: Astrid
full_name: Deryckere, Astrid
last_name: Deryckere
- first_name: Nikol
full_name: Zorin, Nikol
last_name: Zorin
- first_name: Akemi L.
full_name: Nguyen, Akemi L.
last_name: Nguyen
- first_name: Georgiy
full_name: Ivanian, Georgiy
id: eaf2b366-cfd1-11ee-bbdf-c8790f800a05
last_name: Ivanian
- first_name: Jamie
full_name: Woych, Jamie
last_name: Woych
- first_name: Rebecca C
full_name: Arnold, Rebecca C
id: d6cce458-14c9-11ed-a755-c1c8fc6fde6f
last_name: Arnold
- first_name: Alonso
full_name: Ortega Gurrola, Alonso
last_name: Ortega Gurrola
- first_name: Arik
full_name: Shvartsman, Arik
last_name: Shvartsman
- first_name: Francesca
full_name: Barbieri, Francesca
id: a9492887-8972-11ed-ae7b-bfae10998254
last_name: Barbieri
- first_name: Florina-Alexandra
full_name: Toma, Florina-Alexandra
id: 85dd99f2-15b2-11ec-abd3-d1ae4d57f3b5
last_name: Toma
- first_name: Gary J.
full_name: Gorbsky, Gary J.
last_name: Gorbsky
- first_name: Marko E.
full_name: Horb, Marko E.
last_name: Horb
- first_name: Hollis T.
full_name: Cline, Hollis T.
last_name: Cline
- first_name: Timothy F.
full_name: Shay, Timothy F.
last_name: Shay
- first_name: Darcy B.
full_name: Kelley, Darcy B.
last_name: Kelley
- first_name: Ayako
full_name: Yamaguchi, Ayako
last_name: Yamaguchi
- first_name: Mark
full_name: Shein-Idelson, Mark
last_name: Shein-Idelson
- first_name: Maria Antonietta
full_name: Tosches, Maria Antonietta
last_name: Tosches
- first_name: Lora Beatrice Jaeger
full_name: Sweeney, Lora Beatrice Jaeger
id: 56BE8254-C4F0-11E9-8E45-0B23E6697425
last_name: Sweeney
orcid: 0000-0001-9242-5601
citation:
ama: Jaeger ECB, Vijatovic D, Deryckere A, et al. Adeno-associated viral tools to
trace neural development and connectivity across amphibians. Developmental
Cell. 2025;60(5):794-812.e6. doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2024.10.025
apa: Jaeger, E. C. B., Vijatovic, D., Deryckere, A., Zorin, N., Nguyen, A. L., Ivanian,
G., … Sweeney, L. B. (2025). Adeno-associated viral tools to trace neural development
and connectivity across amphibians. Developmental Cell. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2024.10.025
chicago: Jaeger, Eliza C.B., David Vijatovic, Astrid Deryckere, Nikol Zorin, Akemi
L. Nguyen, Georgiy Ivanian, Jamie Woych, et al. “Adeno-Associated Viral Tools
to Trace Neural Development and Connectivity across Amphibians.” Developmental
Cell. Elsevier, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2024.10.025.
ieee: E. C. B. Jaeger et al., “Adeno-associated viral tools to trace neural
development and connectivity across amphibians,” Developmental Cell, vol.
60, no. 5. Elsevier, p. 794–812.e6, 2025.
ista: Jaeger ECB, Vijatovic D, Deryckere A, Zorin N, Nguyen AL, Ivanian G, Woych
J, Arnold RC, Ortega Gurrola A, Shvartsman A, Barbieri F, Toma F-A, Gorbsky GJ,
Horb ME, Cline HT, Shay TF, Kelley DB, Yamaguchi A, Shein-Idelson M, Tosches MA,
Sweeney LB. 2025. Adeno-associated viral tools to trace neural development and
connectivity across amphibians. Developmental Cell. 60(5), 794–812.e6.
mla: Jaeger, Eliza C. B., et al. “Adeno-Associated Viral Tools to Trace Neural Development
and Connectivity across Amphibians.” Developmental Cell, vol. 60, no. 5,
Elsevier, 2025, p. 794–812.e6, doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2024.10.025.
short: E.C.B. Jaeger, D. Vijatovic, A. Deryckere, N. Zorin, A.L. Nguyen, G. Ivanian,
J. Woych, R.C. Arnold, A. Ortega Gurrola, A. Shvartsman, F. Barbieri, F.-A. Toma,
G.J. Gorbsky, M.E. Horb, H.T. Cline, T.F. Shay, D.B. Kelley, A. Yamaguchi, M.
Shein-Idelson, M.A. Tosches, L.B. Sweeney, Developmental Cell 60 (2025) 794–812.e6.
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2024-02-20T09:20:32Z
date_published: 2025-03-10T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-09-30T10:00:55Z
day: '10'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: LoSw
- _id: MaDe
- _id: GaNo
doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2024.10.025
external_id:
isi:
- '001444798600001'
pmid:
- '39603234'
file:
- access_level: open_access
checksum: a83a4cb58f5941096d3ad91ca0172594
content_type: application/pdf
creator: dernst
date_created: 2025-06-04T05:43:27Z
date_updated: 2025-06-04T05:43:27Z
file_id: '19790'
file_name: 2025_DevelopmentalCell_Jaeger.pdf
file_size: 11936258
relation: main_file
success: 1
file_date_updated: 2025-06-04T05:43:27Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: ' 60'
isi: 1
issue: '5'
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
month: '03'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 794-812.e6
pmid: 1
project:
- _id: bd73af52-d553-11ed-ba76-912049f0ac7a
grant_number: FTI21-D-046
name: Development of V1 interneuron diversity during swim-to-walk transition of
Xenopus metamorphosis
- _id: ebb66355-77a9-11ec-83b8-b8ac210a4dae
grant_number: '101041551'
name: Development and Evolution of Tetrapod Motor Circuits
- _id: 8da85f50-16d5-11f0-9cad-eab8b0ff6c9e
grant_number: F7814
name: 'Stem Cell Modulation in Neural Development and Regeneration/ P14-Swim-to-limb
transition: cell type to connection diversity'
publication: Developmental Cell
publication_identifier:
eissn:
- 1878-1551
issn:
- 1534-5807
publication_status: published
publisher: Elsevier
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Adeno-associated viral tools to trace neural development and connectivity across
amphibians
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345
volume: 60
year: '2025'
...