Cranial neural crest (NC) contributes to the developing vertebrate eye. By multidimensional, quantitative imaging, we traced the origin of the ocular NC cells to two distinct NC populations that differ in the maintenance of sox10 expression, Wnt signalling, origin, route, mode and destination of migration. The first NC population migrates to the proximal and the second NC cell group populates the distal (anterior) part of the eye. By analysing zebrafish pax6a/b compound mutants presenting anterior segment dysgenesis, we demonstrate that Pax6a/b guide the two NC populations to distinct proximodistal locations. We further provide evidence that the lens whose formation is pax6a/b-dependent and lens-derived TGFβ signals contribute to the building of the anterior segment. Taken together, our results reveal multiple roles of Pax6a/b in the control of NC cells during development of the anterior segment.

颅神经嵴（NC）有助于脊椎动物眼睛的发育。通过多维定量成像，我们将眼部 NC 细胞的起源追溯到两个不同的 NC 群体，这两个群体在sox10表达的维持、Wnt 信号传导、起源、途径、模式和迁移目的地方面存在差异。第一个 NC 细胞群迁移到近端，第二个 NC 细胞群迁移到眼睛的远端（前部）部分。通过分析呈现前段发育不全的斑马鱼pax6a/b复合突变体，我们证明 Pax6a/b 引导两个 NC 群体到达不同的近远侧位置。我们进一步提供的证据表明，晶状体的形成依赖于pax6a/b，并且晶状体衍生的 TGFβ 信号有助于眼前节的构建。综上所述，我们的结果揭示了 Pax6a/b 在眼前节发育过程中控制 NC 细胞中的多种作用。