Toward a new paradigm for studying ascidian developmental dynamics

✍ Scribed by Nori Satoh

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 54 KB
• Volume: 236
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1058-8388
• DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.21221

✦ Synopsis

Major animal groups have their own characteristic features and/or advantages for studies of developmental biology. Among them, urochordate ascidians, especially Ciona intestinalis, provide special advantages with respect to future studies of developmental genomics and developmental systems biology (Satoh et al., 2003). First, C. intestinalis was the seventh assembled animal genome, which is composed of just 160 Mb and contains approximately 16,000 protein-coding genes (Dehal et al., 2002). This genome size and gene number is quite compact as compared with those of vertebrates. In addition, a large quantity of cDNA and EST (expressed sequence tag) information substantiates the gene models, especially those encoding transcription factors and signaling molecules. A freely distributed package of cDNA clones named "Ciona gene collection" also facilitates studies of expression and function of developmentally relevant genes.

Second, the simplicity of Ciona embryogenesis permits in-depth analyses of the complex mechanisms involved in the establishment of the chordate body plan. Embryos and tadpole-larvae consist of comparatively small numbers of constituent cells that form tissues including notochord, nervous system, muscle, mesenchyme, endoderm, and epidermis. Most of these cell types are specified