spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif ARCHIVE ANNOUNCEMENT! spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zhu, X.
Right arrow Articles by Ettensohn, C. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Zhu, X.
Right arrow Articles by Ettensohn, C. A.
Development 128, 2615-2627 (2001)
© 2001 The Company of Biologists Limited

A large-scale analysis of mRNAs expressed by primary mesenchyme cells of the sea urchin embryo

Xiaodong Zhu1,2, Gregory Mahairas3,*, Michele Illies1, R. Andrew Cameron4, Eric H. Davidson4 and Charles A. Ettensohn1,{ddagger}

1 Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
2 Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO 64110, USA
3 Department of Molecular Biotechnology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
4 Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91124, USA
* Present address: Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA 98105, USA

{ddagger}Author for correspondence: (e-mail: ettensohn{at}andrew.cmu.edu)

Accepted April 18, 2001

The primary mesenchyme cells (PMCs) of the sea urchin embryo have been an important model system for the analysis of cell behavior during gastrulation. To gain an improved understanding of the molecular basis of PMC behavior, a set of 8293 expressed sequenced tags (ESTs) was derived from an enriched population of mid-gastrula stage PMCs. These ESTs represented approximately 1200 distinct proteins, or about 15% of the mRNAs expressed by the gastrula stage embryo. 655 proteins were similar (P<10-7 by BLAST comparisons) to other proteins in GenBank, for which some information is available concerning expression and/or function. Another 116 were similar to ESTs identified in other organisms, but not further characterized. We conservatively estimate that sequences encoding at least 435 additional proteins were included in the pool of ESTs that did not yield matches by BLAST analysis. The collection of newly identified proteins includes many candidate regulators of primary mesenchyme morphogenesis, including PMC-specific extracellular matrix proteins, cell surface proteins, spicule matrix proteins and transcription factors. This work provides a basis for linking specific molecular changes to specific cell behaviors during gastrulation. Our analysis has also led to the cloning of several key components of signaling pathways that play crucial roles in early sea urchin development.

Key words: Morphogenesis, Gastrulation, Cell migration, Cell fusion, Sea urchin embryo, Primary mesenchyme cells, EST analysis




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Biol. Bull.Home page
R. M. Freeman JR., M. Wu, M-M. Cordonnier-Pratt, L. H. Pratt, C. E. Gruber, M. Smith, E. S. Lander, N. Stange-Thomann, C. J. Lowe, J. Gerhart, et al.
cDNA Sequences for Transcription Factors and Signaling Proteins of the Hemichordate Saccoglossus kowalevskii: Efficacy of the Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) Approach for Evolutionary and Developmental Studies of a New Organism
Biol. Bull., June 1, 2008; 214(3): 284 - 302.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 DevelopmentHome page
C. A. Ettensohn, C. Kitazawa, M. S. Cheers, J. D. Leonard, and T. Sharma
Gene regulatory networks and developmental plasticity in the early sea urchin embryo: alternative deployment of the skeletogenic gene regulatory network
Development, September 1, 2007; 134(17): 3077 - 3087.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
A. Davison and M. Blaxter
Ancient Origin of Glycosyl Hydrolase Family 9 Cellulase Genes
Mol. Biol. Evol., May 1, 2005; 22(5): 1273 - 1284.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 DevelopmentHome page
H. E. Weitzel, M. R. Illies, C. A. Byrum, R. Xu, A. H. Wikramanayake, and C. A. Ettensohn
Differential stability of {beta}-catenin along the animal-vegetal axis of the sea urchin embryo mediated by dishevelled
Development, June 15, 2004; 131(12): 2947 - 2956.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Genome ResHome page
A. J. Poustka, D. Groth, S. Hennig, S. Thamm, A. Cameron, A. Beck, R. Reinhardt, R. Herwig, G. Panopoulou, and H. Lehrach
Generation, Annotation, Evolutionary Analysis, and Database Integration of 20,000 Unique Sea Urchin EST Clusters
Genome Res., December 1, 2003; 13(12): 2736 - 2746.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 DevelopmentHome page
L. A. Romano and G. A. Wray
Conservation of Endo16 expression in sea urchins despite evolutionary divergence in both cis and trans-acting components of transcriptional regulation
Development, September 1, 2003; 130(17): 4187 - 4199.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 DevelopmentHome page
C. A. Ettensohn, M. R. Illies, P. Oliveri, and D. L. De Jong
Alx1, a member of the Cart1/Alx3/Alx4 subfamily of Paired-class homeodomain proteins, is an essential component of the gene network controlling skeletogenic fate specification in the sea urchin embryo
Development, July 1, 2003; 130(13): 2917 - 2928.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2001