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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 6, 2026

The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions

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

Uncoupling of complex regulatory patterning during evolution of larval development in echinoderms.

Kristen A Yankura¹, Megan L Martik, Charlotte K Jennings

¹Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.

|December 2, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Conserved head/anterior brain patterning exists in sea star embryos, extending evidence to echinoderms. Retinal specification genes, however, operate in the mesoderm, not ectoderm, in these species.

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Area of Science:

Developmental Biology
Evolutionary Biology
Genomics

Background:

Conserved gene expression along the anterior-posterior axis suggests ancient patterning mechanisms in Bilateria.
Axial patterning homology is less understood in marine animals with complex metamorphosis.
Microscopic planktonic embryos of these animals pose challenges for developmental studies.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the localization of transcription factors during early sea star embryogenesis.
To compare embryonic patterning in sea stars (Echinodermata) with known patterns in other deuterostomes.
To explore the evolutionary conservation and divergence of developmental gene regulatory networks.

Main Methods:

Localization of 14 transcription factors in the ectoderm of Patiria miniata embryos.
Analysis of gene expression patterns during the bipinnaria larval stage.
Comparative analysis with gene expression data from hemichordates and vertebrates.

Main Results:

The animal-vegetal axis in Patiria miniata embryos is significantly patterned.
Ectodermal patterning observed in sea stars resembles head/anterior brain patterning in hemichordates and vertebrates.
Genes for retinal determination were found in the mesoderm, not ectoderm, of sea star embryos.

Conclusions:

Evidence for conserved axial patterning is extended to echinoderm embryos with indirect development.
The distinct localization of retinal specification genes suggests modular evolution of developmental networks.
This dissociation may facilitate the adaptation of microscopic, planktonic larvae.