A gene regulatory network for cell fate specification in Ciona embryos

Ascidian embryos are used as a model system in developmental biology due to their unique properties, including their invariant cell division patterns, being comprised of a small number of cells and tissues, the feasibility of their experimental manipulation, and their simple and compact genome. These properties have provided an opportunity for examining the gene regulatory network at the single cell resolution and at a genome-wide scale. This article summarizes when and where each regulatory gene is expressed in early ascidian embryos, and the extent to which the gene regulatory network explains each gene expression.