Adult neurogenesis in non-mammalian vertebrates

Adult neurogenesis is an exciting and rapidly advancing field of research. It addresses basic biological questions, such as the how and why of de novo neuronal production during adulthood, as well as medically relevant issues, including the potential link between adult neural stem cells and psychiatric disorders, or how stem cell manipulation might be used as a strategy for neuronal replacement. Current research mainly focuses on rodents, but we review here recent examination of non-mammalian vertebrates, which demonstrates that bona fide adult neural stem cells exist in these species. Importantly, especially in teleost fish, these cells can be abundant and located in various brain areas. Hence, non-mammalian vertebrate species provide invaluable comparative material for extracting core mechanisms of adult neural stem cell maintenance and fate. BioEssays 29:745-757, 2007. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.