title: Specific cellular localization of tyrosinase mRNA during Ciona intestinalis larval development.
abstract: A Ciona intestinalis cDNA clone that encodes a protein highly homologous to other tyrosinases was isolated. Northern blot analysis showed that expression of Ciona tyrosinase starts at the early neurula stage and continues throughout the tail-bud and tadpole larval stages. The earliest tyrosinase expression was detected, by in situ hybridization, at the neural plate stage, in pigment precursor cells located along the two neural folds, in the animal region of the embryo. In the course of embryonic development the strong hybridization signal was always localized, within the rostral part of the developing brain, in the pigment precursor cells and was later detected in the otolith and ocellus. These results are discussed in relation to tyrosinase as an early marker of neural induction.
authors.affiliation: Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caracciolo
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gesualdo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Branno
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aniello
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Di Lauro
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palumbo
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology / Q000254:growth & development; D002938:Ciona intestinalis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007814:Larva / Q000201:enzymology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase