Montague Tessa G, Rieth Isabelle J, Axel Richard
The Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
Dev Dyn. 2021 Dec;250(12):1688-1703. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.375. Epub 2021 May 31.
The dwarf cuttlefish Sepia bandensis, a camouflaging cephalopod from the Indo-Pacific, is a promising new model organism for neuroscience, developmental biology, and evolutionary studies. Cuttlefish dynamically camouflage to their surroundings by altering the color, pattern, and texture of their skin. The skin's "pixels" (chromatophores) are controlled by motor neurons projecting from the brain. Thus, camouflage is a visible representation of neural activity. In addition to camouflage, the dwarf cuttlefish uses dynamic skin patterns for social communication. Despite more than 500 million years of evolutionary separation, cuttlefish and vertebrates converged to form limbs, camera-type eyes and a closed circulatory system. Moreover, cuttlefish have a striking ability to regenerate their limbs. Interrogation of these unique biological features will benefit from the development of a new set of tools. Dwarf cuttlefish reach sexual maturity in 4 months, they lay dozens of eggs over their 9-month lifespan, and the embryos develop to hatching in 1 month.
Here, we describe methods to culture dwarf cuttlefish embryos in vitro and define 25 stages of cuttlefish development.
This staging series serves as a foundation for future technologies that can be used to address a myriad of developmental, neurobiological, and evolutionary questions.
侏儒乌贼（Sepia bandensis）是一种来自印度-太平洋地区的善于伪装的头足类动物，是神经科学、发育生物学和进化研究中一种很有前景的新型模式生物。乌贼通过改变皮肤的颜色、图案和纹理来动态地与周围环境伪装。皮肤的“像素”（色素细胞）由从大脑投射出的运动神经元控制。因此，伪装是神经活动的一种可见表现。除了伪装，侏儒乌贼还利用动态皮肤图案进行社交交流。尽管乌贼和脊椎动物经过了超过5亿年的进化分离，但它们趋同进化形成了肢体、相机型眼睛和封闭的循环系统。此外，乌贼具有惊人的肢体再生能力。开发一套新工具将有助于探究这些独特的生物学特征。侏儒乌贼在4个月内达到性成熟，在其9个月的寿命中会产下数十枚卵，胚胎在1个月内发育至孵化。
在此，我们描述了体外培养侏儒乌贼胚胎的方法，并定义了乌贼发育的25个阶段。
这个分期系列为未来可用于解决众多发育、神经生物学和进化问题的技术奠定了基础。
