Project description:Recent whole-genome studies and in-depth expressed sequence tag (EST) analyses have identified most of the developmentally relevant genes in the urochordate, Ciona intestinalis. In this study, we made use of a large-scale oligo-DNA microarray to further investigate and identify genes with specific or correlated expression profiles. This large-scale oligo-DNA microarray for C. intestinalis should facilitate the understanding of global gene expression and gene networks during the development and ageing of a basal chordate. Keywords: gene expression, development, ageing, life cycle