D'Ambrosio Palmira, Fanelli Albertina, Pischetola Michele, Spagnuolo Antonietta
Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Stazione Zologica A. Dohrn, Villa Comunale, Naples, Italy.
Dev Dyn. 2003 Jan;226(1):145-8. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.10216.
Members of the GATA family of zinc finger transcription factors have been shown to play important roles in controlling gene expression in a variety of cell types in many metazoan. Here, we describe the identification of Ci-GATAa, a member of this gene family, in the ascidian Ciona intestinalis. Whole-mount in situ hybridization showed that Ci-GATAa was expressed in a highly dynamic manner. The maternal transcript was evenly distributed in the embryo during early stages of development; however, the signal gradually decreased until it disappeared at the 64-cell stage. A zygotic transcript was detected at the 110-cell stage in the blastomeres precursors of three different tissues (brain vesicle, mesenchyme, and trunk lateral cells) and the signal was conserved in these territories up to the larval stage, indicating an important role for Ci-GATAa during ascidian differentiation.
锌指转录因子GATA家族的成员已被证明在许多后生动物的多种细胞类型中控制基因表达方面发挥重要作用。在此，我们描述了在海鞘Ciona intestinalis中该基因家族成员Ci-GATAa的鉴定。全胚胎原位杂交显示Ci-GATAa以高度动态的方式表达。母源转录本在发育早期均匀分布于胚胎中；然而，信号逐渐减弱，直到在64细胞期消失。在110细胞期，在三种不同组织（脑泡、间充质和躯干侧细胞）的卵裂球前体中检测到合子转录本，并且该信号在这些区域一直保留到幼虫期，表明Ci-GATAa在海鞘分化过程中起重要作用。
