The Neuronal Transcriptome of Aplysia californica: A Platform for the Neurogenomics of Defined Neurons
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ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Aplysia californica
PROVIDER: GSE4628 | GEO | 2007/01/05
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA95525
REPOSITORIES: GEO
Similar Datasets
Project description:The marine mollusc Aplysia is a well established experimental system for cellular and systems neuroscience because of the relatively simple organization of its nervous system and the presence within it of the largest nerve cells in the animal kingdom, many of which are uniquely identifiable in every member of the species. Until now, molecular analyses of Aplysia have been seriously handicapped by lack of adequate genomic information, with only 200 sequences publicly available when this project was initiated in 2003. By sequencing cDNA libraries from the central nervous system, we have identified over 175,000 ESTs (expressed sequence tags), of which 19,814 are unique neuronal gene products and 9469 has been annotated. Through comparison with the complete genomic data available for Drosophila and C. elegans, we estimate that we have sequence information for approximately 50-70% of the total transcriptome of the Aplysia nervous system. We also identified 9,223 unique gene products in a modulatory serotonergic cell and about 1,000 unique gene products from its processes. Using gene expression oligoarrays constructed using the Aplysia EST database we also have characterized the transcript profile of sensory and motor neurons. In addition to increasing the amount of publicly available gene sequences of Aplysia by two orders of magnitude, this collection of transcripts is distinctive from a comparative biology point of view. It represents the largest database available for any member of the Lophotrochozoa clade of the animal kingdom. These molecular resources should allow the detailed study of the genomics of identified cells and circuits and provide in Aplysia a much needed bridge between genes, behavior, and learning. Keywords: Cell-type comparison
2007-01-05 | GSE4625 | GEO
Project description:The marine mollusc Aplysia is a well established experimental system for cellular and systems neuroscience because of the relatively simple organization of its nervous system and the presence within it of the largest nerve cells in the animal kingdom, many of which are uniquely identifiable in every member of the species. Until now, molecular analyses of Aplysia have been seriously handicapped by lack of adequate genomic information, with only 200 sequences publicly available when this project was initiated in 2003. By sequencing cDNA libraries from the central nervous system, we have identified over 175,000 ESTs (expressed sequence tags), of which 19,814 are unique neuronal gene products and 9469 has been annotated. Through comparison with the complete genomic data available for Drosophila and C. elegans, we estimate that we have sequence information for approximately 50-70% of the total transcriptome of the Aplysia nervous system. We also identified 9,223 unique gene products in a modulatory serotonergic cell and about 1,000 unique gene products from its processes. Using gene expression oligoarrays constructed using the Aplysia EST database we also have characterized the transcript profile of sensory and motor neurons. In addition to increasing the amount of publicly available gene sequences of Aplysia by two orders of magnitude, this collection of transcripts is distinctive from a comparative biology point of view. It represents the largest database available for any member of the Lophotrochozoa clade of the animal kingdom. These molecular resources should allow the detailed study of the genomics of identified cells and circuits and provide in Aplysia a much needed bridge between genes, behavior, and learning. Keywords: Cell type comparison
2007-01-05 | GSE4626 | GEO
Project description:Specific mRNAs are transported from the cell body to synapses where their translation can modify communication of pre-existing synapses and induce formation of new synaptic connections in response to learning. Little is known, however, about the identity of the RNAs that are actively transported and when and how these RNAs are utilized during learning. By focusing on RNAs that are associated with kinesin, a motor protein that transports gene products from the cell body to synapses, we have now applied microarrays and 454 sequencing to identify actively transported RNAs from the Aplysia central nervous system. Using a library prepared from the kinesin complex immunoprecipitated from the central nervous system (CNS), we have identified thousands of unique transcripts, of which ~600 mRNAs were annotated. Two sample comparison: kinesin IP vs. control.
2013-04-24 | E-GEOD-30440 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:The marine opisthobranch mollusk, Aplysia californica, is a powerful experimental system in cellular, molecular, and behavioral neuroscience as well as cell and evolutionary biology because of the distinctive organization of its nervous system, which makes it advantageous for cellular and comparative analysis of a variety of behaviors and learning and memory. Aplysia's large neurons allow examination of neuronal architecture of instinctive and learned behaviors at the level of single characterized cells and defined cellular compartments (e.g., synapses). As a result, many fundamental problems in neurobiology can be analyzed more effectively in Aplysias than in Drosophila, C. elegans, and vertebrates. In a larger sense work on Aplysia is synergistic with these other experimental systems. Here, we are sequencing the genome of Aplysia both to gain access to genomic mechanisms of basic neuronal and other functions and to study these mechanisms in real physiological time with single-neuron resolution. The distinction of Aplysia as a neurobiological and cellular model system is due to the following: (1) Its nervous system has a relatively small number of nerve cells. (2) Many of these cells are large (sometimes gigantic, up to 1 mm in diameter). (3) As a result of their size, pigmentation, and position in the nervous system, many cells can easily be uniquely identified at the single cell level and can be reliably linked to the animal's behavior. (4) The cells provide enough messenger RNA to generate cDNA libraries from single cells. (5) These neurons can be isolated and cultured in vitro and they form circuits which can be explored in detail at molecular and cellular levels. (6) The animal generates a variety of behaviors, many of which can be specified in terms of their underlying circuitry. (7) Some of these behaviors can be modified by different forms of learning. Aplysia are easy to rear in the laboratory from fertilized ova to mature adults and it is possible to obtain an inbred stock of reproducing animals. In 1995, the NIH established a National Resource Center for Aplysia at the University of Miami to meet the growing needs of the biomedical community. This Center supplies over 20,000 cultured Aplysia at all developmental stages annually to the research community throughout the world. This community consists of more than 100 laboratories and over a thousand investigators with overall research budgets of tens of millions of dollars annually. In addition to its value to the neurobiological community, Aplysia is also of interest from a comparative biological perspective. Aplysia is a free-living representative of Mollusca, the second largest animal phylum (after Arthropoda). Members of this phylum have received relatively little genetic study, even though they are of considerable significance for evolutionary and developmental biology and for basic and applied biomedical studies. Aplysia has a stable diploid genome consisting of 17 haploid chromosomes with highly polyploid central neurons. The genome size of about 850 million base pairs is typical for many molluscan species. Expressed sequence tags (ESTs) have already been sequenced, including more than 50,000 unique sequences representing several thousand genes, from the central nervous system of Aplysia – see Moroz et al (2006) . These ESTs have revealed many signaling molecules and pathways, including their key receptors, kinases and substrate proteins, but many rare yet key genes (e.g., ionic channels) have escaped detection so far. To achieve a complete understanding of the biologically important genes and their regulatory elements, a careful annotation and analysis of the sequenced genome is analysis is required. The Aplysia genome project will serve two major functions. First, it will be important for neuroscience by providing a critical resource for facilitating: (a) identification of all genes and regulatory regions of this valuable organism, (b) assembling microarrays and cDNA libraries for global expression studies, including those based on single neurons and their processes, and (c) gene function analysis by RNA interference screens. Second, the Aplysia genome will be important for comparative, developmental and evolutionary biology. Aplysia will serve as a complementary invertebrate/molluscan genomic model from the most diverse and second largest clade of bilaterally symmetrical animals. The Aplysia genome will promote studies of metazoan evolution, developmental biology, neuroscience, and human health, including identifying and validating therapeutic targets for human disorders that are related to aging, cancer, the central nervous system, as well as learning and memory mechanisms.
2022-10-11 | GSE79231 | GEO
Project description:Specific mRNAs are transported from the cell body to synapses where their translation can modify communication of pre-existing synapses and induce formation of new synaptic connections in response to learning. Little is known, however, about the identity of the RNAs that are actively transported and when and how these RNAs are utilized during learning. By focusing on RNAs that are associated with kinesin, a motor protein that transports gene products from the cell body to synapses, we have now applied microarrays and 454 sequencing to identify actively transported RNAs from the Aplysia central nervous system. Using a library prepared from the kinesin complex immunoprecipitated from the central nervous system (CNS), we have identified thousands of unique transcripts, of which ~600 mRNAs were annotated.
2013-04-24 | GSE30440 | GEO
Project description:The monitoring of global transcription patterns during development is a useful first step to understand mechanisms underlying growth, differentiation and patterning in a given species. However such large scale developmental studies are so far only available from a few selected model organisms such as mouse, Drosophila and the nematode C. elegans. Genomic scale information from the lophotrochozoa is now emerging. The recently characterized neuronal transcriptome of the sea hare Aplysia californica (~200’000 ESTs and ~40,000 unique non-redundant sequences representing about 55-70% of all neuronal transcripts including splice forms and non-coding RNAs) provides new insights and opportunities into problems of molluscan development and specifically neurogenesis. Regulatory genes used in development are recruited for the functions of adult nervous systems such as synaptogenesis, specific wiring in networks and structural changes underlying synaptic plasticity. While this similarity reflects a basic concept in biology, namely the recruitment of the same genes for different functions, it has never been tested on a large scale genomic level. We used representative oligo-arrays constructed from transcripts obtained from the Aplysia nervous system to explore the following two questions: 1) What neuronal genes are differentially expressed during embryonic development of the sea hare Aplysia. 2) What gene expression changes can be observed in correlation with gastrulation, metamorphosis, and larval neurogenesis. For this purpose we hybridized RNA from 3 embryonic (64 cells, gastrula, trochophore) and 4 larval stages (pre-hatching, post-hatching, pre-metamorphosis, postmetamorphosis) against a reference sample consisting of equal contributions from all stages. Our analysis revealed that all embryonic and larval stages can be distinguished based on their transcription profiles. A comparison of the Aplysia atlas with similar studies in Drosophila and mouse reveals interesting differences. We identified several new transcription factors which are differentially expressed during early embryonic development. Various other transcripts involved in metabolism and differentiation were characterized. These genes can be candidate targets for understanding neuronal growth, synaptogenesis and memory mechanisms. We conclude that the microarray technology provides us with a powerful tool for efficient survey and functional annotation of the neuronal transcriptome in Aplysia. We used a reference design for this study where we hybridized each of the 8 developmental stages of Aplysia (cleavage, gastrula, trochophore, first veliger, hatching veliger, pre-metamorphosis (stage 6), post-metamorphosis (stage 7), post-metamorphosis 60 hours (pm60)
2010-10-04 | E-GEOD-14941 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:The complexity of events associated with age-related memory loss (ARML) cannot be overestimated. The problem is further complicated by the enormous diversity of neurons in the CNS and even synapses of one neuron within a neural circuit. Large-scale single-neuron analysis is not only challenging but mostly impractical for any model currently used in ARML. We simply do not know: do all neurons and synapses age differently or are some neurons (or synapses) more resistant to aging than others? What is happening in any given neuron while it undergoes “normal” aging? What are the genomic changes that make aging apparently irreversible? What would be the balance between neuron-specific vs global genome-wide changes in aging? In the proposed paper we address these questions and develop a new model to study the entire scope of genomic and epigenomic regulation in aging at the resolution of single functionally characterized cells and even cell compartments. In particular, the mollusc Aplysia californica has been implemented as a powerful paradigm in addressing fundamental questions of the neurobiology of aging. The proposed manuscript will consist of four parts. First, we will provide an introduction to Aplysia as a representative of the largest superclade of bilaterian animals (Lophotrochozoa). Aplysia has a short lifespan of 220-300 days with a well-characterized life cycle and characterized phenomenology of aging. Most importantly, Aplysia possess the largest nerve cells in the entire animal kingdom (only eggs are larger); these cells can be uniquely identified and mapped in terms of their well-defined interactions with other neurons forming relatively simpler neural circuits underlying several stereotypic and learned behaviors. Second, we have identified in Aplysia more that a hundred neurological- and age-related genes that were lost in other established invertebrate models (such as Drosophila and C. elegans). The proposed long-term regulatory age-related mechanisms include a high level of conservation among many epigenetic processes known to be lost in nematodes and flies with extremely short lifecycles and particularly derived genomes. We also identify and cloned more than 30 evolutionarily conserved homologs of genes involved in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases as well as age-related hormones. Third, we performed genome-wide analysis of expression patterns of more than 55,000 unique transcripts by comparing two different identified cholinergic neurons (R2 and LPl1) among young and aged animals. This direct single neuron genomic analysis indicates that there are significant cell-specific changes in gene-expression profiles as a function of aging. We estimated that only ~10-20% of genes that are differently expressed in the aging brain are common for all neuronal types - the remaining 80% are neuron-specific (i.e. found in aging neurons of one but not another type). The list of “common aging genes” includes components of insulin growth factor pathways, cell bioenergetics, telomerase-associated proteins, antioxidant enzymes, water channels and estrogen receptors. The rest were neuron-specific gene products (including apoptosis-related proteins, Alzheimer-related genes, growth factors and their receptors, ionic channels, transcription factors and more than 120 identified proteins known to be involved in neurodevelopment and synaptogenesis). Surprisingly, even two different identified cholinergic motoneurons age differently and each of them has a unique subset of genes differentially expressed in older animals. Fourth, we showed that the activity of the entire genome and associated epigenomic modifications (e.g. DNA methylation, histone dynamics) can be efficiently monitored within a single Aplysia neuron and can be modified as a function of aging in a neuron-specific manner including selective histones and histone-modifying enzymes and DNA methylation-related enzymes. This genome-wide analysis of aging allows us to propose novel mechanisms of active DNA demethylation and cell-specific methylation as well as regional relocation of RNAs as three key processes underlying age-related memory loss. These mechanisms tune the dynamics of long-term chromatin remodeling, control weakening and the loss of synaptic connections in aging. At the same time, our genomic tests revealed evolutionarily conserved gene clusters in the Aplysia genome associated with senescence and regeneration (e.g. apoptosis- and redox- dependent processes, insulin signaling, etc.). This is a reference design experiment with all samples being compared to one CNS from Aplysia. Two cholinergic neurons (R2 and LPl1), two ages (young and old), two arrays (AAA and DAA), three biological replicates each sample type. Two direct comparison experiments were also performed. One with young and old abdominal ganglion and the other with young and old R2.
2010-05-20 | E-GEOD-18783 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:The monitoring of global transcription patterns during development is a useful first step to understand mechanisms underlying growth, differentiation and patterning in a given species. However such large scale developmental studies are so far only available from a few selected model organisms such as mouse, Drosophila and the nematode C. elegans. Genomic scale information from the lophotrochozoa is now emerging. The recently characterized neuronal transcriptome of the sea hare Aplysia californica (~200’000 ESTs and ~40,000 unique non-redundant sequences representing about 55-70% of all neuronal transcripts including splice forms and non-coding RNAs) provides new insights and opportunities into problems of molluscan development and specifically neurogenesis. Regulatory genes used in development are recruited for the functions of adult nervous systems such as synaptogenesis, specific wiring in networks and structural changes underlying synaptic plasticity. While this similarity reflects a basic concept in biology, namely the recruitment of the same genes for different functions, it has never been tested on a large scale genomic level. We used representative oligo-arrays constructed from transcripts obtained from the Aplysia nervous system to explore the following two questions: 1) What neuronal genes are differentially expressed during embryonic development of the sea hare Aplysia. 2) What gene expression changes can be observed in correlation with gastrulation, metamorphosis, and larval neurogenesis. For this purpose we hybridized RNA from 3 embryonic (64 cells, gastrula, trochophore) and 4 larval stages (pre-hatching, post-hatching, pre-metamorphosis, postmetamorphosis) against a reference sample consisting of equal contributions from all stages. Our analysis revealed that all embryonic and larval stages can be distinguished based on their transcription profiles. A comparison of the Aplysia atlas with similar studies in Drosophila and mouse reveals interesting differences. We identified several new transcription factors which are differentially expressed during early embryonic development. Various other transcripts involved in metabolism and differentiation were characterized. These genes can be candidate targets for understanding neuronal growth, synaptogenesis and memory mechanisms. We conclude that the microarray technology provides us with a powerful tool for efficient survey and functional annotation of the neuronal transcriptome in Aplysia.
2010-10-05 | GSE14941 | GEO
Project description:Alignment of publicly available ancient genomes to hg38
| PRJEB64654 | ENA