Xenopus tropicalis

The anuran amphibian Xenopus laevis is one of the embryologists’ favorite model organisms. The reasons for this are ease of breeding, embryos of relatively large size produced in large quantities and a rather rapid external development.

The scientific community which is working on this amphibian would now like to work on the Xenopus tropicalis (\Silurana tropicalis) species, which, unlike Xenopus laevis, is diploid and could become a genetic model for the development of vertebrates.

In this context, Genoscope will analyze about 30,000 cDNA samples from two different libraries (specifically labeled at the moment of cloning) from the central nervous system of Xenopus tropicalis. These are a brain library enriched with retinas from embryos of developmental stages 30 to 35 (according to Nieukoop and Faber) and a library from the nervous system of tadpoles at the beginning of metamorphosis (stages 51-52) and in the middle of metamorphosis (stages 61-62). The analysis will comprise the sequencing of 500 bases from both ends (5’ and 3’) of each clone (ESTs). The libraries will first be normalized by subtraction of very abundant cDNAs after hybridization.

Contact: Patrick Wincker (Genoscope) - Nicolas Pollet (Université Paris-Sud)