Dynamic changes in developmental gene expression in the basal chordate Ciona intestinalis.
Large-scale expressed sequence tags (EST) analysis was used to demonstrate a number of dynamic changes in the global gene expression profile of the basal chordate Ciona intestinalis over the course of its development. The fertilized egg was found to store a great variety of maternal transcripts and, as development proceeds, the organism expresses a progressively smaller repertoire of genes. In addition, a significant portion of genes involved in embryogenesis were observed to be downregulated during metamorphosis, at which point the adult appears to utilize a different set of genes to form its body. At least 25% of the genes involved in development were found to be used multiple times. This kind of information is essential to form a comprehensive understanding of the overarching expression-control plan by which the basic chordate body is formed.
Kawashima
Takeshi
T
Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.
Satou
Yutaka
Y
Murakami
Seiko D
SD
Satoh
Nori
N
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002938:Ciona intestinalis / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008675:Metamorphosis, Biological / Q000235:genetics*
D018076:DNA, Complementary