Protocol

Fixation of Ilyanassa Snail Embryos and Larvae

¹ Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
² Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC 27402-6170, USA
³ Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA

⁴Corresponding authors (dlamber2{at}mail.rochester.edu; lnagy{at}u.arizona.edu)

This article is also available in Emerging Model Organisms: A Laboratory Manual, Vol. 1. CSHL Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA, 2009.

INTRODUCTION

The marine gastropod Ilyanassa obsoleta is a long-standing and very useful model for studies of embryonic development. It is an especially important model for spiralian development, and for studies of asymmetric cell division. The embryos are amenable to classic embryological manipulation techniques, as well as a growing number of molecular approaches. Ilyanassa is also an important model for studies of metamorphosis, the ecology of parasitism, the effects of environmental contaminants on morphology and sexual function, and comparative neurobiology. Ilyanassa embryos are particularly well suited for RNA and protein localization studies because of the relatively large cells and favorable properties for imaging. This protocol describes how to fix and store Ilyanassa embryos and larvae for use in whole-mount in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical studies.