Project description:Purpose: The Tbrain transcription factor has demonstrated an evolved preference for low-affinity, secondary site binding motifs between the sea star and sea urchin orthologs. We sought to identify targets of sea urchin and sea star orthologs of Tbr. Because less is known about the function of Tbr during sea star development, we used RNA-seq in conjuction with ChIP-seq studies (GEO:xxxx) to determine the targets of sea star Tbr in early development. Methods: Sea star (Patiria miniata) embryos were injected with translation-blocking morpholino antisense oligonucleotides to knock-down PmTbr expression, as described previously. Control morpholinos were injected into sibling embryos. Embryos were allowed to develop until hatching (30-36 hpf) at which point injected embryos were collected and RNA was extracted. RNA-seq libraries were prepared, sequenced, and analyzed using standard protocols. Results: There are 2,562 genes that are significantly differentially expressed relative to control morpholino inected embryos (FDR < 0.05). There are roughly equivalent numbers of genes down-regulated (1,041) and up-regulated (1,521) by Pm-tbr knockdown, suggesting that PmTbr may act as both a transcriptional activator and repressor. 1,165 differentially expressed genes are located within 75 kb of a PmTbr binding site determined using ChIP-seq, and this set is used as a basis for comparison between sea star and sea urchin binding sites. Conclusions: 1,165 targets of the PmTbr transcription factor were identified based on differential expression following knockdown and the presence of transcription factor binding sites proximal to differentially expressed genes. There are an equal number of up- and down-regulated targets, suggesting Tbr may function as a transcriptional activator and repressor, depending on context and target gene. There was no clear association of motif utilization with either the direction of differential expression or ontological category of the target gene. There are only a small fraction of target genes (approximately 10%) that are in common between the sea star and sea urchin sets.
Project description:We identified cis-regulatory elements based on their dynamic chromatin accessibility during the gastrula-larva stages of sea urchin and sea star and studied their evolution in these echinoderm species
Project description:Marine organisms represent a rich source for discovering natural products and materials that could inspire the development of novel molecules or materials for a high variety of industrial applications. Among them are sea stars, emblematic animals of the seashore. These organisms rely on epidermal secretions to cope with their benthic life. Their integument produces a mucus, which represents the first barrier against invaders; and their tube feet produce adhesive secretions to pry open mussels and attach strongly but temporarily to rocks. In this study, we investigate for the first time the protein content of mucous and adhesive secretions from the sea star Asterias rubens. These secretomes were analysed using tandem mass spectrometry and resulting MS/MS data were searched against in silico translated tube foot transcriptome. Tube foot transcripts coding for proteins identified in the two secretions were then functionally annotated by similarity searches against NCBI nr database.
Project description:The affinity of the echinoderm pentaradial body plan with that of the ancestral bilateral symmetry remains one of the biggest zoological puzzle. Here, we revisited this classical zoological problem using RNA tomography and HCR in situ hybridization in the sea star Patiria miniata.
2022-10-06 | GSE214723 | GEO
Project description:Rumex alpinus microsatellite development
| PRJNA393939 | ENA
Project description:Wasting Disease in Forbe's Sea star
Project description:Regeneration is pervasive among the metazoa, but to vastly varying degrees. Platyhelminthes, Cnidaria, and Echinodermata are examples of phyla whose members are capable of whole-body regeneration (WBR). While planaria and hydra have been exemplary models of this phenomenon, the molecular details of echinoderm WBR are less established. It remains unclear to what degree such a dramatic regenerative capacity is due to the operation of conserved mechanisms and, in particular, whether any of these are involved in a regenerating Deuterostome. We characterize regeneration in the larval sea star (Patiria miniata) via transcriptome assessment. Transcriptome profiling highlight functions common to regeneration, such as wound healing, axis patterning and proliferation. This dataset was used as a basis for comparison to published Platyhelminth and Cnidarian regeneration datasets. These analyses show that sea star larvae undergo regeneration through a trajectory including wound response, axis respecification, and blastemal proliferation. Commonalities between this Deuterostome model and other WBR models suggest a deep conservation of whole-body regeneration among the metazoa.