The sea squirt Ciona intestinalis

Spindle morphology changes between meiosis and mitosis driven by CK2 regulation of the Ran pathway

The transition from meiotic divisions in the oocyte to embryonic mitoses is a critical step in animal development. Despite negligible changes to cell size and shape, following fertilization the small, barrel-shaped meiotic spindle is replaced by a large zygotic spindle that nucleates abundant astral microtubules at spindle poles. To probe underlying mechanisms, we applied a drug screening approach using Ciona eggs and found that inhibition of Casein Kinase 2 (CK2) caused a shift from meiotic to mitotic-like spindle morphology with nucleation of robust astral microtubules, an effect reproduced in cytoplasmic extracts prepared from Xenopus eggs. In both species, CK2 activity decreased at fertilization. Phosphoproteomic differences between Xenopus meiotic and mitotic extracts that also accompanied CK2 inhibition pointed to RanGTP-regulated factors as potential targets. Interfering with RanGTP-driven microtubule formation suppressed astral microtubule growth caused by CK2 inhibition. These data support a model in which CK2 activity attenuation at fertilization leads to activation of RanGTP-regulated microtubule effectors that induce mitotic spindle morphology.

WITHDRAWN: Utilizing comparative models in biomedical research

The Publisher regrets that this article is an accidental duplication of an article that has already been published in Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Volume 255, 2021, 110593, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpb.2021.110593. The duplicate article has therefore been withdrawn. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal.

Utilizing comparative models in biomedical research

This review serves as an introduction to a Special Issue of Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, focused on using non-human models to study biomedical physiology. The concept of a model differs across disciplines. For example, several models are used primarily to gain an understanding of specific human pathologies and disease states, whereas other models may be focused on gaining insight into developmental or evolutionary mechanisms. It is often the case that animals initially used to gain knowledge of some unique biochemical or physiological process finds foothold in the biomedical community and becomes an established model. The choice of a particular model for biomedical research is an ongoing process and model validation must keep pace with existing and emerging technologies. While the importance of non-mammalian models, such as Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, Danio rerio and Xenopus laevis, is well known, we also seek to bring attention to emerging alternative models of both invertebrates and vertebrates, which are less established but of interest to the comparative biochemistry and physiology community.

A single-cell transcriptional roadmap for cardiopharyngeal fate diversification

In vertebrates, multipotent progenitors located in the pharyngeal mesoderm form cardiomyocytes and branchiomeric head muscles, but the dynamic gene expression programmes and mechanisms underlying cardiopharyngeal multipotency and heart versus head muscle fate choices remain elusive. Here, we used single-cell genomics in the simple chordate model Ciona to reconstruct developmental trajectories forming first and second heart lineages and pharyngeal muscle precursors and characterize the molecular underpinnings of cardiopharyngeal fate choices. We show that FGF-MAPK signalling maintains multipotency and promotes the pharyngeal muscle fate, whereas signal termination permits the deployment of a pan-cardiac programme, shared by the first and second heart lineages, to define heart identity. In the second heart lineage, a Tbx1/10-Dach pathway actively suppresses the first heart lineage programme, conditioning later cell diversity in the beating heart. Finally, cross-species comparisons between Ciona and the mouse evoke the deep evolutionary origins of cardiopharyngeal networks in chordates.

Evaluation and rational design of guide RNAs for efficient CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis in Ciona

The CRISPR/Cas9 system has emerged as an important tool for various genome engineering applications. A current obstacle to high throughput applications of CRISPR/Cas9 is the imprecise prediction of highly active single guide RNAs (sgRNAs). We previously implemented the CRISPR/Cas9 system to induce tissue-specific mutations in the tunicate Ciona. In the present study, we designed and tested 83 single guide RNA (sgRNA) vectors targeting 23 genes expressed in the cardiopharyngeal progenitors and surrounding tissues of Ciona embryo. Using high-throughput sequencing of mutagenized alleles, we identified guide sequences that correlate with sgRNA mutagenesis activity and used this information for the rational design of all possible sgRNAs targeting the Ciona transcriptome. We also describe a one-step cloning-free protocol for the assembly of sgRNA expression cassettes. These cassettes can be directly electroporated as unpurified PCR products into Ciona embryos for sgRNA expression in vivo, resulting in high frequency of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis in somatic cells of electroporated embryos. We found a strong correlation between the frequency of an Ebf loss-of-function phenotype and the mutagenesis efficacies of individual Ebf-targeting sgRNAs tested using this method. We anticipate that our approach can be scaled up to systematically design and deliver highly efficient sgRNAs for the tissue-specific investigation of gene functions in Ciona.

Blood circulation in the ascidian tunicate Corella inflata (Corellidae)

The body of the ascidian tunicate Corella inflata is relatively transparent. Thus, the circulatory system can be visualized by injecting high molecular weight fluorescein labeled dextran into the heart or the large vessels at the ends of the heart without surgery to remove the body wall. In addition, after staining with neutral red, the movement of blood cells can be easily followed to further characterize the circulatory system. The heart is two gently curved concentric tubes extending across the width of the animal. The inner myocardial tube has a partial constriction approximately in the middle. As in other tunicates, the heart is peristaltic and periodically reverses direction. During the branchial phase blood leaves the anterior end of the heart by two asymmetric vessels that connect to the two sides of the branchial basket. Blood then flows in both transverse directions through a complex system of ducts in the basket into large ventral and dorsal vessels which carry blood back to the visceral organs in the posterior of the animal. During the visceral phase blood leaves the posterior end of the heart in two vessels that repeatedly bifurcate and fan into the stomach and gonads. Blood velocity, determined by following individual cells in video frames, is high and pulsatory near the heart. A double peak in velocity at the maximum may be due to the constriction in the middle of the heart tube. Blood velocity progressively decreases with distance from the heart. In peripheral regions with vessels of small diameter blood cells frequently collide with vessel walls and cell motion is erratic. The estimated volume of blood flow during each directional phase is greater than the total volume of the animal. Circulating blood cells are confined to vessels or ducts in the visible parts of the animal and retention of high molecular weight dextran in the vessels is comparable to that seen in vertebrates. These are characteristics of a closed circulatory system.

Migratory neuronal progenitors arise from the neural plate borders in tunicates

The neural crest is an evolutionary novelty that fostered the emergence of vertebrate anatomical innovations such as the cranium and jaws. During embryonic development, multipotent neural crest cells are specified at the lateral borders of the neural plate before delaminating, migrating and differentiating into various cell types. In invertebrate chordates (cephalochordates and tunicates), neural plate border cells express conserved factors such as Msx, Snail and Pax3/7 and generate melanin-containing pigment cells, a derivative of the neural crest in vertebrates. However, invertebrate neural plate border cells have not been shown to generate homologues of other neural crest derivatives. Thus, proposed models of neural crest evolution postulate vertebrate-specific elaborations on an ancestral neural plate border program, through acquisition of migratory capabilities and the potential to generate several cell types. Here we show that a particular neuronal cell type in the tadpole larva of the tunicate Ciona intestinalis, the bipolar tail neuron, shares a set of features with neural-crest-derived spinal ganglia neurons in vertebrates. Bipolar tail neuron precursors derive from caudal neural plate border cells, delaminate and migrate along the paraxial mesoderm on either side of the neural tube, eventually differentiating into afferent neurons that form synaptic contacts with both epidermal sensory cells and motor neurons. We propose that the neural plate borders of the chordate ancestor already produced migratory peripheral neurons and pigment cells, and that the neural crest evolved through the acquisition of a multipotent progenitor regulatory state upstream of multiple, pre-existing neural plate border cell differentiation programs.

NK4 antagonizes Tbx1/10 to promote cardiac versus pharyngeal muscle fate in the ascidian second heart field

Cross inhibition between NK4 and TBX1 transcription factors specifies heart versus pharyngeal muscle fates by promoting the activation of tissue-specific regulators in distinct precursors within the cardiopharyngeal lineage of the ascidian, Ciona intestinalis.

The heart and head muscles share common developmental origins and genetic underpinnings in vertebrates, including humans. Parts of the heart and cranio-facial musculature derive from common mesodermal progenitors that express NKX2-5, ISL1, and TBX1. This ontogenetic kinship is dramatically reflected in the DiGeorge/Cardio-Velo-Facial syndrome (DGS/CVFS), where mutations of TBX1 cause malformations in the pharyngeal apparatus and cardiac outflow tract. Cardiac progenitors of the first heart field (FHF) do not require TBX1 and segregate precociously from common progenitors of the second heart field (SHF) and pharyngeal muscles. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern heart versus pharyngeal muscle specification within this lineage remain elusive. Here, we harness the simplicity of the ascidian larva to show that, following asymmetric cell division of common progenitors, NK4/NKX2-5 promotes GATAa/GATA4/5/6 expression and cardiac specification in the second heart precursors by antagonizing Tbx1/10-mediated inhibition of GATAa and activation of Collier/Olf/EBF (COE), the determinant of atrial siphon muscle (ASM) specification. Our results uncover essential regulatory connections between the conserved cardio-pharyngeal factor Tbx1/10 and muscle determinant COE, as well as a mutual antagonism between NK4 and Tbx1/10 activities upstream of GATAa and COE. The latter cross-antagonism underlies a fundamental heart versus pharyngeal muscle fate choice that occurs in a conserved lineage of cardio-pharyngeal progenitors. We propose that this basic ontogenetic motif underlies cardiac and pharyngeal muscle development and evolution in chordates.

Mutations in the regulatory genes encoding the transcription factors NKX2-5 and TBX1, which govern heart and head muscle development, cause prevalent congenital defects. Recent studies using vertebrate models have shown that the heart and pharyngeal head muscle cells derive from common progenitors in the early embryo. To better understand the genetic mechanisms by which these progenitors select one of the two developmental trajectories, we studied the activity of these transcription factors in a simple invertebrate chordate model, the sea squirt Ciona intestinalis. We show that the sea squirt homolog of NKX2-5 promotes early heart specification by inhibiting the formation of pharyngeal muscles. Conversely, the TBX1 homolog determines pharyngeal muscle fate by inhibiting GATAa and thereby the heart program it instructs, as well as promoting the pharyngeal muscle program through activation of COE (Collier/Olf-1/EBF), a recently identified regulator of skeletal muscle differentiation. Finally, we show that the NKX2-5 homolog protein directly binds to the COE gene to repress its activity. Notably, these antagonistic interactions occur in heart and pharyngeal precursors immediately following the division of their pluripotent mother cells, thus contributing to their respective fate choice. These mechanistic insights into the process of early heart versus head muscle specification in this simple chordate provide the grounds for establishing the etiology of human congenital cardio-craniofacial defects.

Neural tube patterning by Ephrin, FGF and Notch signaling relays

The motor ganglion (MG) controls the rhythmic swimming behavior of the Ciona intestinalis tadpole. Despite its cellular simplicity (five pairs of neurons), the MG exhibits conservation of transcription factor expression with the spinal cord of vertebrates. Evidence is presented that the developing MG is patterned by sequential Ephrin/FGF/MAPK and Delta/Notch signaling events. FGF/MAPK attenuation by a localized EphrinAb signal specifies posterior neuronal subtypes, which in turn relay a Delta2/Notch signal that specifies anterior fates. This short-range relay is distinct from the patterning of the vertebrate spinal cord, which is a result of opposing BMP and Shh morphogen gradients. Nonetheless, both mechanisms lead to localized expression of related homeodomain codes for the specification of distinct neuronal subtypes. This MG regulatory network provides a foundation for elucidating the genetic and cellular basis of a model chordate central pattern generator.

Coordinated regulation of cholinergic motor neuron traits through a conserved terminal selector gene

Cholinergic motor neurons are defined by the coexpression of a battery of genes encoding proteins that act sequentially to synthesize, package and degrade acetylcholine and reuptake its breakdown product, choline. How expression of these critical motor neuron identity determinants is controlled and coordinated is not understood. We show here that, in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, all members of the cholinergic gene battery, as well as many other markers of terminal motor neuron fate, are co-regulated by a shared cis-regulatory signature and a common trans-acting factor, the phylogenetically conserved COE (Collier, Olf, EBF)-type transcription factor UNC-3. UNC-3 initiated and maintained expression of cholinergic fate markers and was sufficient to induce cholinergic fate in other neuron types. UNC-3 furthermore operated in negative feedforward loops to induce the expression of transcription factors that repress individual UNC-3-induced terminal fate markers, resulting in diversification of motor neuron differentiation programs in specific motor neuron subtypes. A chordate ortholog of UNC-3, Ciona intestinalis COE, was also both required and sufficient for inducing a cholinergic fate. Thus, UNC-3 is a terminal selector for cholinergic motor neuron differentiation whose function is conserved across phylogeny.

Neuronal subtype specification in the spinal cord of a protovertebrate

The visceral ganglion (VG) comprises the basic motor pool of the swimming ascidian tadpole and has been proposed to be homologous to the spinal cord of vertebrates. Here, we use cis-regulatory modules, or enhancers, from transcription factor genes expressed in single VG neuronal precursors to label and identify morphologically distinct moto- and interneuron subtypes in the Ciona intestinalis tadpole larva. We also show that the transcription factor complement present in each differentiating neuron correlates with its unique morphology. Forced expression of putative interneuron markers Dmbx and Vsx results in ectopic interneuron-like cells at the expense of motoneurons. Furthermore, by perturbing upstream signaling events, we can change the transcription factor expression profile and subsequent identity of the different precursors. Perturbation of FGF signaling transforms the entire VG into Vsx+/Pitx+ putative cholinergic interneurons, while perturbation of Notch signaling results in duplication of Dmbx+ decussating interneurons. These experiments demonstrate the connection between transcriptional regulation and the neuronal subtype diversity underlying swimming behavior in a simple chordate.

X-gal staining of electroporated sea squirt (Ciona) embryos

This protocol describes the fixation, staining, and mounting of sea squirt (Ciona intestinalis) embryos and larvae that have been electroporated with a plasmid DNA containing a cis-regulatory DNA (e.g., tissue-specific enhancer) fused to the lacZ reporter gene. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter genes can be directly visualized in living embryos and larvae, although fixed preparations can use aspects of this protocol.

Isolation of sea squirt (Ciona) gametes, fertilization, dechorionation, and development

This protocol is the starting point for most manipulations that are used to study the sea squirt (Ciona) embryo, including in situ hybridization, the microinjection of morpholino oligos, and the electroporation of transgenic DNAs. Ciona eggs and embryos are exquisitely sensitive to even trace amounts of detergent; therefore, it is strongly advised to designate a soap-free workspace for embryo culture. Any solutions that come into contact with embryos should be prepared in absolutely clean glassware with the highest quality water.

Whole-mount in situ hybridization on sea squirt (Ciona intestinalis) embryos

This protocol describes whole-mount in situ hybridization on sea squirt (Ciona intestinalis) embryos. This method is a mainstay of the sea squirt (Ciona) research community. It permits the detailed visualization of gene expression at single-cell resolution. It has been used to detect localized maternal mRNAs in the fertilized egg and to identify restricted patterns of gene expression within individual cells of the developing central nervous system at advanced stages of development, including swimming tadpoles.