Muscle differentiation in a colonial ascidian: organisation, gene expression and evolutionary considerations.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Ascidians are tunicates, the taxon recently proposed as sister group to the vertebrates. They possess a chordate-like swimming larva, which metamorphoses into a sessile adult. Several ascidian species form colonies of clonal individuals by asexual reproduction. During their life cycle, ascidians present three muscle types: striated in larval tail, striated in the heart, and unstriated in the adult body-wall.

Results

In the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri, we investigated organisation, differentiation and gene expression of muscle beginning from early buds to adults and during zooid regression. We characterised transcripts for troponin T (BsTnT-c), adult muscle-type (BsMA2) and cytoplasmic-type (BsCA1) actins, followed by in situ hybridisation (ISH) on secti

SUBMITTER: Degasperi V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2753633 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature