title: Two Decades of Ascidian Developmental Biology: A Personal Research Story.
abstract: Ascidians are the closest relatives of vertebrates. Their utility in experimental embryology has been well recognized because of their simple mode of embryogenesis to form tadpole larvae with a basal chordate body plan. Approximately two decades of research, including decoding of the Ciona genome, have promoted ascidians as one of the best systems for exploring genome-wide mechanisms of developmental transcriptional control and chordate evolution.
authors.affiliation: Marine Genomics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa, Japan. Electronic address: norisky@oist.jp.
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Satoh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D015509:Developmental Biology; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology*; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000502:physiology*; D014561:Urochordata
keywords: Ascidians; Genomics; Molecular developmental biology; Personal history; Research progress