Ciona intestinalis

Ascidians are invertebrate marine chordates. Although they are very simple and transparent, the ascidian tadpoles exhibit the general architecture of vertebrate embryos. Embryonic development is very rapid; invariant cleavage and lineage has been characterized in detail. Finally, Ciona intestinalis, the ascidian used in this project, has a small and compact genome (1.7 x 10⁸ bps, 15,000 genes, and a single Hox complex), a short life cycle (6 to 8 weeks) and is a hermaphrodite. These characteristics make it a system of choice for a molecular embryologic and genetic study of the embryonic development of chordates.

The absence of molecular markers for the various embryonic territories is at present a major handicap in the study of the development of Ciona. To remedy this situation, ESTs will be generated from 5000 clones chosen at random from an ordered library of embryonic cDNAs. The expression profile of non-redundant cDNAs will then be determined. This project will permit the development of a first molecular map of embryonic territories in Ciona. Furthermore, it will make it possible to identify genes which code for regulatory proteins, or homologues of genes implicated in human pathologies. The simplicity and power of the Ciona system should lead to a better understanding of the function of these proteins.

This project is a collaboration with Patrick Lemaire. To obtain clones, please contact him.