PD Dr. Mario Wullimann

Research focus: Embryonic/postembryonic development of the teleostean forebrain

• Early development of GABAergic neurons in the zebrafish
• Adult configuration of major neurotransmitter systems in the zebrafish
• Early proliferation and proneural gene expression in vertebrates
• A Substantia nigra-like dopamine system in the zebrafish
• Rhombic lip derived neuronal hindbrain populations and cerebellar development
• Behavioral and neuronal mechanisms of olfactory imprinting in zebrafish (DFG-Project within the Schwerpunktprogramm “Integrative Analysis of Olfaction” together with Gabrielle Gerlach, University Oldenburg and Rainer Friedrich, F. Miescher Institute, Basel)

Selected publications:

Wullimann MF. (2011) Basal ganglia: insights into origins from lamprey brains. Curr Biol 21: R497-500.

Yamamoto K, Ruuskanen JO, Wullimann MF and Vernier P. (2011) Differential expression of dopaminergic cell markers in the adult zebrafish forebrain. J Comp Neurology 519: 576-598.

Wullimann MF, Mueller T, Distel M, Babaryka A, Grothe B and Köster RF. (2011) The long adventurous journey of rhombic lip cells in jawed vertebrates: a comparative developmental analysis. Front Neuroanat 5: 27.

Yamamoto K, Ruuskanen JO, Wullimann MF and Vernier P. (2010) Two tyrosine hydroxylases in vertebrates - New dopaminergic territories revealed in the adult zebrafish brain. Molecular & Cellular Neuroscience 43: 394-402.

Mueller T and Wullimann MF. (2009) An evolutionary interpretation of teleost forebrain anatomy. Brain Behav Evol 74: 30-42.