Background: Gonad differentiation is an essential function for all sexually reproducing species, and many aspects of these developmental processes are highly conserved among the metazoa. The colonial ascidian, Botryllus schlosseri is a chordate model organism which offers two unique traits that can be utilized to characterize the genes underlying germline development: a colonial life history and variable fertility. These properties allow individual genotypes to be isolated at different stages of fertility and gene expression can be characterized comprehensively.
Results: Here we characterized the transcriptome of both fertile and infertile colonies throughout blastogenesis (asexual development) using differential expression analysis. We identified genes (as few as 7 and as many as 647) regulating fertility in Botryllus at each stage of blastogenesis. Several of these genes appear to drive gonad maturation, as they are expressed by follicle cells surrounding both testis and oocyte precursors. Spatial and temporal expression of differentially expressed genes was analyzed by in situ hybridization, confirming expression in developing gonads.
Conclusion: We have identified several genes expressed in developing and mature gonads in B. schlosseri. Analysis of genes upregulated in fertile animals suggests a high level of conservation of the mechanisms regulating fertility between basal chordates and vertebrates.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4523013 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-15-1183 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Evidence of a Lytic Pathway in an Invertebrate Complement System: Identification of a Terminal Complement Complex Gene in a Colonial Tunicate and Its Evolutionary Implications.
Int J Mol Sci
November 2024
Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41125 Modena, Italy.
The complement system is a pivotal component of innate immunity, extensively studied in vertebrates but also present in invertebrates. This study explores the existence of a terminal complement pathway in the tunicate , aiming to understand the evolutionary integration of innate and adaptive immunity. Through transcriptome analysis, we identified a novel transcript, BsITCCP, encoding a protein with both MACPF and LDLa domains-a structure resembling that of vertebrate C9 but with a simpler organization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMulti-Omics Inform Invasion Risks Under Global Climate Change.
Glob Chang Biol
November 2024
Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Global climate change is exacerbating biological invasions; however, the roles of genomic and epigenomic variations and their interactions in future climate adaptation remain underexplored. Using the model invasive ascidian Botryllus schlosseri across the Northern Hemisphere, we investigated genomic and epigenomic responses to future climates and developed a framework to assess future invasion risks. We employed generalized dissimilarity modeling and gradient forest analyses to assess genomic and epigenomic offsets under climate change.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenetic and functional diversity of allorecognition receptors in the urochordate, .
bioRxiv
October 2024
Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
Allorecognition in is controlled by a highly polymorphic locus (the ), and functionally similar to missing-self recognition utilized by Natural Killer cells-compatibility is determined by sharing a self-allele, and integration of activating and inhibitory signals determines outcome. We had found these signals were generated by two -encoded receptors, called and Here we show that genes are members of an extended family consisting of >37 loci, and co-expressed with an even more diverse gene family-the (). The are membrane proteins related to , but include conserved tyrosine motifs, including ITIMs and hemITAMs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLessons on neurodegeneration and aging from the Lagoon of Venice: the marine invertebrate .
Brain Commun
September 2024
Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Padova, 35131 Padua, Italy.
In this work, the authors proposed a novel and interesting animal model for studying human neurodegenerative diseases, , a small invertebrate inhabiting temperate seas worldwide, which shares remarkable similarities with mammals in the expression of genes involved in pathological aging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhagocyte dynamics in the blastogenetic cycle of the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri: Cell senescence, segregation and clearance after efferocytosis.
Dev Comp Immunol
September 2024
Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. Electronic address:
In the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri, phagocytes are involved in the clearance of apoptotic cells and corpses during the periodical generation changes or takeovers (TOs) that assure the renewal of the colonial zooids. The persistent respiratory burst associated with efferocytosis, leads to the induction of senescence. Indeed, giant, senescent phagocytes are abundant in the colonial circulation at TO, whereas, in the other phases of the colonial blastogenetic cycle, they colonise the ventral islands (VIs), a series of mesenchymal niches located in the lateral lacunae of the mantle, on both sides of the subendostylar sinus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!