Transposon-mediated insertional mutagenesis revealed the functions of animal cellulose synthase in the ascidian Ciona intestinalis.

ABSTRACT: Tunicates are the only animals that perform cellulose biosynthesis. The tunicate gene for cellulose synthase, Ci-CesA, was likely acquired by horizontal transfer from bacteria and was a key innovation in the evolution of tunicates. Transposon-based mutagenesis in an ascidian, Ciona intestinalis, has generated a mutant, swimming juvenile (sj). Ci-CesA is the gene responsible for the sj mutant, in which a drastic reduction in cellulose was observed in the tunic. Furthermore, during metamorphosis, which in ascidians convert the vertebrate-like larva into a sessile filter feeder, sj showed abnormalities in the order of metamorphic events. In normal larvae, the metamorphic events in the trunk region are initiated after tail resorption. In contrast, sj mutant larvae initiated the metamorphic eve

SUBMITTER: Sasakura Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1257696 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature