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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions
Published on: February 16, 2017
Gene regulatory networks in the early ascidian embryo
Yutaka Satou1, Nori Satoh, Kaoru S Imai
1Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan.
Abstract:
Ascidians, or sea squirts, are tunicates that diverged from the vertebrate lineage early in the chordate evolution. The compact and simple organization of the ascidian genome makes this organism an ideal model system for analyzing gene regulatory networks in embryonic development. Embryos contain relatively few cells and gene activities by individual cells have been determined. Here we review and discuss advances in our understanding of the ascidian embryogenesis emerging from genomic expression studies and analyses at the single cell level.
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