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 Imai, K. S.
Right arrow Articles by Satou, Y.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Imai, K. S.
Right arrow Articles by Satou, Y.
Development 129, 3441-3453 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited

An essential role of a FoxD gene in notochord induction in Ciona embryos

Kaoru S. Imai*, Nori Satoh and Yutaka Satou

Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan

*Author for correspondence (e-mail: imai{at}ascidian.zool.kyoto-u.ac.jp)

Accepted 22 April 2002

A key issue for understanding the early development of the chordate body plan is how the endoderm induces notochord formation. In the ascidian Ciona, nuclear accumulation of ß-catenin is the first step in the process of endoderm specification. We show that nuclear accumulation of ß-catenin directly activates the gene (Cs-FoxD) for a winged helix/forkhead transcription factor and that this gene is expressed transiently at the 16- and 32-cell stages in endodermal cells. The function of Cs-FoxD, however, is not associated with differentiation of the endoderm itself but is essential for notochord differentiation or induction. In addition, it is likely that the inductive signal that appears to act downstream of Cs-FoxD does not act over a long range. It has been suggested that FGF or Notch signal transduction pathway mediates ascidian notochord induction. Our previous study suggests that Cs-FGF4/6/9 is partially involved in the notochord induction. The present experimental results suggest that the expression and function of Cs-FGF4/6/9 and Cs-FoxD are not interdependent, and that the Notch pathway is involved in B-line notochord induction downstream of Cs-FoxD.

Key words: FoxD, Ciona embryos, Transient expression, Endoderm, Notochord specification




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 ScienceHome page
P. Dehal, Y. Satou, R. K. Campbell, J. Chapman, B. Degnan, A. De Tomaso, B. Davidson, A. Di Gregorio, M. Gelpke, D. M. Goodstein, et al.
The Draft Genome of Ciona intestinalis: Insights into Chordate and Vertebrate Origins
Science, December 13, 2002; 298(5601): 2157 - 2167.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2002