Department for Molecular Evolution and Development, Centre for Organismal Systems Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, Vienna, Austria.
Development. 2011 Apr;138(8):1447-58. doi: 10.1242/dev.048959. Epub 2011 Mar 9.
There is growing interest in the use of cnidarians (corals, sea anemones, jellyfish and hydroids) to investigate the evolution of key aspects of animal development, such as the formation of the third germ layer (mesoderm), the nervous system and the generation of bilaterality. The recent sequencing of the Nematostella and Hydra genomes, and the establishment of methods for manipulating gene expression, have inspired new research efforts using cnidarians. Here, we present the main features of cnidarian models and their advantages for research, and summarize key recent findings using these models that have informed our understanding of the evolution of the developmental processes underlying metazoan body plan formation.
人们对腔肠动物（珊瑚、海葵、水母和水螅）在动物发育的关键方面的进化研究越来越感兴趣，例如第三胚层（中胚层）的形成、神经系统和两侧对称的产生。最近 Nematostella 和 Hydra 基因组的测序，以及操纵基因表达方法的确立，激发了使用腔肠动物进行新的研究工作。在这里，我们介绍了腔肠动物模型的主要特征及其在研究中的优势，并总结了利用这些模型获得的最近的关键发现，这些发现为我们理解后生动物体节形成的发育过程的进化提供了信息。
