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Ascidians belong to the tunicates, the sister group of vertebrates and are recognized model organisms in the field of embryonic development, regeneration and stem cells. ANISEED is the main information system in the field of ascidian developmental biology. This article reports the development of the system since its initial publication in 2010. Over the past five years, we refactored the system from an initial custom schema to an extended version of the Chado schema and redesigned all user and back end interfaces. This new architecture was used to improve and enrich the description of Ciona intestinalis embryonic development, based on an improved genome assembly and gene model set, refined functional gene annotation, and anatomical ontologies, and a new collection of full ORF cDNAs. The genomes of nine ascidian species have been sequenced since the release of the C. intestinalis genome. In ANISEED 2015, all nine new ascidian species can be explored via dedicated genome browsers, and searched by Blast. In addition, ANISEED provides full functional gene annotation, anatomical ontologies and some gene expression data for the six species with highest quality genomes. ANISEED is publicly available at: http://www.aniseed.cnrs.fr.

Abstract Background The discovery of gene body methylation, which refers to DNA methylation within gene coding region, suggests an as yet unknown role of DNA methylation at actively transcribed genes. In invertebrates, gene bodies are the primary targets of DNA methylation, and only a subset of expressed genes is modified. Results Here we investigate the tissue variability of both the global levels and distribution of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) in the sea squirt Ciona intestinalis. We find that global 5mC content of early developmental embryos is high, but is strikingly reduced in body wall tissues. We chose sperm and adult muscle cells, with high and reduced levels of global 5mC respectively, for genome-wide analysis of 5mC targets. By means of CXXC-affinity purification followed by deep sequencing (CAP-seq), and genome-wide bisulfite sequencing (BS-seq), we designated body-methylated and unmethylated genes in each tissue. Surprisingly, body-methylated and unmethylated gene groups are identical in the sperm and muscle cells. Our analysis of microarray expression data shows that gene body methylation is associated with broad expression throughout development. Moreover, transgenic analysis reveals contrasting gene body methylation at an identical gene-promoter combination when integrated at different genomic sites. Conclusions We conclude that gene body methylation is not a direct regulator of tissue specific gene expression in C. intestinalis. Our findings reveal constant targeting of gene body methylation irrespective of cell type, and they emphasize a correlation between gene body methylation and ubiquitously expressed genes. Our transgenic experiments suggest that the promoter does not determine the methylation status of the associated gene body.

Background: Echinoderms have long been utilized as experimental materials to study the genetic control of developmental processes and their evolution. Among echinoderms, the molecular study of starfish embryos has received considerable attention across research topics such as gene regulatory network evolution and larval regeneration. Recently, experimental techniques to manipulate gene functions have been gradually established in starfish as the feasibility of genome editing methods was reported. However, it is still unclear when these techniques cause genome cleavage during the development of starfish, which is critical to understand the timeframe and applicability of the experiment during early development of starfish. Results: We herein reported that gene functions can be analyzed by the genome editing method TALEN in early embryos, such as the blastula of the starfish Patiria pectinifera. We injected the mRNA of TALEN targeting rar, which was previously constructed, into eggs of P. pectinifera and examined the efficiency of genome cleavage through developmental stages from 6 to 48 hours post fertilization. Conclusion: The results will be key knowledge not only when designing TALEN‐based experiments but also when assessing the results. Key Findings: Molecular study of starfish embryos has received considerable attention in recent years.It is important to establish a robust assay of the genome editing with not only CRISPR/Cas9 but TALEN in starfish.However, it is still unclear when TALEN causes genome cleavage during the development of starfish.The results will be key knowledge not only when designing TALEN‐based experiments but also when assessing the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ascidians significantly change their body structure through metamorphosis, but the spatio‐temporal cell dynamics in the early metamorphosis stage has not been clarified. A natural Ciona embryo is surrounded by maternally derived non‐self‐test cells before metamorphosis. However, after metamorphosis, the juvenile is surrounded by self‐tunic cells derived from mesenchymal cell lineages. Both test cells and tunic cells are thought to be changed their distributions during metamorphosis, but the precise timing is unknown. Results: Using a metamorphosis induction by mechanical stimulation, we investigated the dynamics of mesenchymal cells during metamorphosis in a precise time course. After the stimulation, two‐round Ca2+ transients were observed. Migrating mesenchymal cells came out through the epidermis within 10 min after the second phase. We named this event "cell extravasation." The cell extravasation occurred at the same time as the backward movement of posterior trunk epidermal cells. Timelapse imaging of transgenic‐line larva revealed that non‐self‐test cells and self‐tunic cells temporarily coexist outside the body until the test cells are eliminated. At the juvenile stage, only extravasated self‐tunic cells remained outside the body. Conclusions: We found that mesenchymal cells extravasated following two‐round Ca2+ transients, and distributions of test cells and tunic cells changed in the outer body after tail regression. Key Findings: We found mesenchymal cells were released from multiple points in the epidermis of the trunk (extravasation) after mechanical stimulation.Extravasation occurs simultaneously with backward movement of the epidermis.Before metamorphosis, mesenchymal cells already migrated beneath the epidermis.Three‐dimensional timelapse imaging revealed that extravasated cells were divided into two groups: faster migrating cell groups than before metamorphosis and slower cell groups.After extravasation, non‐self‐external cells are eliminated and self‐extravasated cells surrounded the outer body. Both cells are thought to be responsible for defense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]