title: Endogenous beta-galactosidase activity in amphioxus: a useful histochemical marker for the digestive system.
abstract: Endogenous beta-galactosidase activity has been shown in the digestive tract of amphioxus from the larval to the adult stage and it can be easily followed as a histochemical marker. Enzymatic activity first appeared in 30-h larvae, became evident in 36-h larvae and remained in adults. In situ detection of beta-galactosidase activity was used to monitor morphological and functional differentiation of the digestive system and the posteriorization of the endodermal structures in retinoic-acid treated embryos. The endogenous beta-galactosidase activity was distinguished from the bacterial lacZ reporter by incubation at low pH.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Genètica, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 645 Av. Diagonal, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. roser@bio.ub.es
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cañestro
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Albalat
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Escrivà
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gonzàlez-Duarte
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002816:Chordata, Nonvertebrate / Q000201:enzymology*; D004064:Digestive System / Q000201:enzymology*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007763:Lac Operon; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001616:beta-Galactosidase