Sepia officinalis

Many genes exist in Lophotrochozoa that were so far considered vertebrate-specific. This underscores their importance for comparative genomics and the necessity of genome sequencing on new biological models of lophotrochozoan species. The lack of gene references and neural markers in mollusc constitutes a serious handicap to this understanding.

The objective of the project is to obtain an ESTs library issued from a cDNA library of Sepia officinalis embryos (from the beginning of morphogenesis-stage 15- to just pre-hatching- stage30) in order to characterize and identify, in the ESTs, the target genes and to mark off their role in the nervous system development in cephalopods.

This will allow a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms that control the development of neural structures and of the evolutionary processes underlying the diversity of neural system in metazoans.

Contact: Julie Poulain (Genoscope) - Laure Bonnaud (Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle)