Cite as: Cold Spring Harb. Protoc.; 2009; doi:10.1101/pdb.emo138

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emoEmerging Model Organisms

The Sea Squirt Ciona intestinalis

Lionel Christiaen1,2, Eileen Wagner, Weiyang Shi, and Michael Levine2

Molecular and Cell Biology Department, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA

1 Present address: Center for Developmental Genetics, Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.

2Corresponding authors (mlevine{at}berkeley.edu); (lc121{at}nyu.edu).


INTRODUCTION

Sea squirts (Ciona intestinalis) are tunicates (or urochordates), the closest living relatives of the vertebrates. Although the adults are simple, sessile filter feeders, the embryos and larvae possess clear chordate features including a prominent notochord and dorsal, hollow neural tube. Tail-bud-stage embryos and mature swimming tadpoles are composed of approximately 1000 and 2600 cells, respectively, with complete lineage information. This cellular simplicity is coupled with a streamlined genome that has not undergone the duplications seen in vertebrates. A variety of molecular tools have been applied to understanding Ciona embryogenesis. Comparisons of the C. intestinalis genome and the related but divergent Ciona savignyi genome have facilitated the identification of conserved non-coding DNAs, including regulatory DNAs such as tissue-specific enhancers. Systematic in situ hybridization assays and gene-disruption experiments using specific morpholino antisense oligonucleotides have led to the elaboration of provisional gene regulatory networks underlying the specification of key chordate tissues, including the notochord, neural tube, and beating heart. These networks provide a foundation for understanding the mechanistic basis of more complex cell-specification processes in vertebrates, and for understanding the evolutionary origins of distinctive vertebrate characteristics such as the neural crest. Because tunicates and vertebrates are sister groups, there is every indication that the developmental mechanisms revealed in the simple Ciona model will be applicable to comparable processes in vertebrates.


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This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Cold Spring Harb ProtocHome page
L. Christiaen, E. Wagner, W. Shi, and M. Levine
Isolation of Sea Squirt (Ciona) Gametes, Fertilization, Dechorionation, and Development
Cold Spring Harb Protoc, December 1, 2009; 2009(12): 10.1101/pdb.prot5344.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 Cold Spring Harb ProtocHome page
L. Christiaen, E. Wagner, W. Shi, and M. Levine
Electroporation of Transgenic DNAs in the Sea Squirt Ciona
Cold Spring Harb Protoc, December 1, 2009; 2009(12): 10.1101/pdb.prot5345.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 Cold Spring Harb ProtocHome page
L. Christiaen, E. Wagner, W. Shi, and M. Levine
X-gal Staining of Electroporated Sea Squirt (Ciona) Embryos
Cold Spring Harb Protoc, December 1, 2009; 2009(12): 10.1101/pdb.prot5346.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 Cold Spring Harb ProtocHome page
L. Christiaen, E. Wagner, W. Shi, and M. Levine
Microinjection of Morpholino Oligos and RNAs in Sea Squirt (Ciona) Embryos
Cold Spring Harb Protoc, December 1, 2009; 2009(12): 10.1101/pdb.prot5347.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 Cold Spring Harb ProtocHome page
L. Christiaen, E. Wagner, W. Shi, and M. Levine
Whole-Mount In Situ Hybridization on Sea Squirt (Ciona intestinalis) Embryos
Cold Spring Harb Protoc, December 1, 2009; 2009(12): 10.1101/pdb.prot5348.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 Cold Spring Harb ProtocHome page
L. Christiaen, E. Wagner, W. Shi, and M. Levine
Isolation of Individual Cells and Tissues from Electroporated Sea Squirt (Ciona) Embryos by Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting (FACS)
Cold Spring Harb Protoc, December 1, 2009; 2009(12): 10.1101/pdb.prot5349.
[Abstract] [Full Text]