Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba, Shimoda, Shizuoka, Japan.
Exp Anim. 2009 Oct;58(5):459-69. doi: 10.1538/expanim.58.459.
The study of marine invertebrates is useful in various biological research fields. However, genetic analyses of these animals are limited, mainly due to difficulties in culturing them, and the genetic resources of marine invertebrates have not been organized. Recently, advances have been made in the study of two deuterostomes, an ascidian Ciona intestinalis and a feather star Oxycomanthus japonicus. The draft genome sequence of Ciona intestinalis has been determined, and its compact genome, which has less redundancy of genes compared with vertebrates, provides us with a useful experimental system for analyzing the functions of genes during development. The life cycle of Ciona intestinalis is approximately 2-3 months, and the genetic techniques including a perfect inland culture system, germline transformation with a transposon Minos, enhancer detection and insertional mutagenesis, have been established. The feather star Oxycomanthus japonicus conserves the characteristics of the basic echinoderm body plan with a segmented mesoderm, which is a fascinating characteristic for understanding the evolution of echinoderms. Oxycomanthus japonicus shows strong regeneration ability and is a suitable subject for analysis of the mechanisms of regeneration. In consideration of these features, the National BioResource Project (NBRP) has started to support the supply of wild-types, transgenic lines and inbred lines of Ciona intestinalis and Oxycomanthus japonicus.
海洋无脊椎动物的研究在各个生物研究领域都很有用。然而，这些动物的遗传分析受到限制，主要是因为它们的培养困难，而且海洋无脊椎动物的遗传资源尚未得到组织。最近，在研究两种后口动物方面取得了进展，一种是海鞘 Ciona intestinalis，另一种是羽腕海星 Oxycomanthus japonicus。Ciona intestinalis 的草图基因组序列已经确定，其与脊椎动物相比基因冗余较少的紧凑基因组为我们提供了一个有用的实验系统，用于分析发育过程中基因的功能。Ciona intestinalis 的生命周期约为 2-3 个月，已经建立了包括完善的内陆培养系统、转座子 Minos 的生殖系转化、增强子检测和插入诱变在内的遗传技术。羽腕海星 Oxycomanthus japonicus 保留了具有分段中胚层的基本棘皮动物身体计划的特征，这是理解棘皮动物进化的迷人特征。Oxycomanthus japonicus 表现出强大的再生能力，是分析再生机制的合适对象。考虑到这些特点，国家生物资源计划（NBRP）已开始支持供应野生型、转基因系和近交系的 Ciona intestinalis 和 Oxycomanthus japonicus。
