Protocol

Induction of Spawning in the Starlet Sea Anemone Nematostella vectensis, In Vitro Fertilization of Gametes, and Dejellying of Zygotes

Department for Molecular Evolution and Development, Center for Organismal Systems Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, 1090 Wien, Austria

¹Corresponding author (ulrich.technau{at}univie.ac.at).

INTRODUCTION

This protocol describes a reliable method for inducing spawning in the starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis under laboratory conditions. Spawning occurs at ~13±3 h after the onset of the inductive cues, which are a particular combination of light and temperature. This method has been used successfully on a daily basis with rotating cultures, yielding thousands of embryos every day. Each given female or male can be induced once per week. For long-term health, an induction once every 10-14 d is less exhausting to the animals. The protocol also describes the dejellying of the zygotes for further manipulation of the embryos.