Regulatory Blueprint for a Chordate Embryo

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 312; no. 5777; pp. 1183 - 1187
• Main Authors: Imai, Kaoru S, Levine, Michael, Satoh, Nori, Satou, Yutaka
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 26.05.2006; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Evolution; Blastomeres; Blastomeres - cytology; Blastomeres - physiology; Body Patterning - genetics; Cell Differentiation - genetics; Cell Lineage; Cell lines; Ciona; Ciona intestinalis - embryology; Ciona intestinalis - genetics; Circuit diagrams; Computational Biology; Embryo, Nonmammalian - physiology; Embryology: invertebrates and vertebrates. Teratology; Embryonic Development - genetics; Embryonic structures; Embryos; Epidermal cells; Epidermis - cytology; Evolution; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastrula - cytology; Gastrula - physiology; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Genes; Genes, Regulator; In Situ Hybridization; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins - genetics; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins - physiology; Invertebrates; Molecular embryology; Nerves; Neurons; Neurons - cytology; Nodal Protein; Notochord - embryology; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Signal Transduction; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - physiology; Transcription, Genetic; Transforming Growth Factor beta - genetics; Transforming Growth Factor beta - physiology; Vertebrates; Development; Embryo; Models; Gene; Blastomere; Network
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1123404

Ciona is an emerging model system for elucidating gene networks in development. Comprehensive in situ hybridization assays have identified 76 regulatory genes with localized expression patterns in the early embryo, at the time when naïve blastomeres are determined to follow specific cell fates. Systematic gene disruption assays provided more than 3000 combinations of gene expression profiles in mutant backgrounds. Deduced gene circuit diagrams describing the formation of larval tissues were computationally visualized. These diagrams constitute a blueprint for the Ciona embryo and provide a foundation for understanding the evolutionary origins of the chordate body plan.