The draft genome of Ciona intestinalis: insights into chordate and vertebrate origins

The first chordates appear in the fossil record at the time of the Cambrian explosion, nearly 550 million years ago. The modern ascidian tadpole represents a plausible approximation to these ancestral chordates. To illuminate the origins of chordate and vertebrates, we generated a draft of the protein-coding portion of the genome of the most studied ascidian, Ciona intestinalis. The Ciona genome contains approximately 16,000 protein-coding genes, similar to the number in other invertebrates, but only half that found in vertebrates. Vertebrate gene families are typically found in simplified form in Ciona, suggesting that ascidians contain the basic ancestral complement of genes involved in cell signaling and development. The ascidian genome has also acquired a number of lineage-specific innovations, including a group of genes engaged in cellulose metabolism that are related to those in bacteria and fungi.

Z-band proteins in the flight muscle and leg muscle of the honeybee

Monoclonal antibodies (mAb's) have been raised against proteins in preparations of Z-discs isolated from honeybee fibrillar flight muscle. These antibodies have identified four Z-disc antigens on immunoblots of honeybee fibrillar proteins. Antibody alpha binds to the 90-100 kD protein, alpha-actinin; mAb P interacts with the protein, projectin, an extremely large polypeptide (greater than 600kD) found in the connecting filaments which link thick filaments to the Z-band in insect asynchronous flight muscle. Two other mAb's recognize previously uncharacterized insect Z-band proteins. Monoclonal antibody Z(400) binds to a pair of proteins with molecular masses near 400 kD and 600 kD. Antibody Z(175) recognizes two components, 158 kD and 175 kD, that are not only immunologically similar but have nearly identical peptide maps. Indirect immunofluorescence microscopy studies show that the proteins recognized by mAb's alpha, Z(175) and Z(400) are located at the Z-band, while the mAb P antigen is found on either side of it. Three of the four antibodies we have obtained recognize leg muscle proteins. Monoclonal antibodies alpha and P comigrate on SDS gels with analogous components from flight muscle. Only the smaller of the two proteins identified in flight muscle by mAb Z(400) is found in leg muscle, however. Furthermore, no Z(175) antigens have been detected in the non-fibrillar tissue by either monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies. Immunofluorescence microscopy studies localize the alpha and Z(400) antigens at the Z-line in leg muscle fibrils. Surprisingly, however, mAb P binds within the A-bands of synchronous fibres, not between the A- and Z-bands as in asynchronous fibrillar muscle.

Characterization of components of Z-bands in the fibrillar flight muscle of Drosophila melanogaster

Twelve monoclonal antibodies have been raised against proteins in preparations of Z-disks isolated from Drosophila melanogaster flight muscle. The monoclonal antibodies that recognized Z-band components were identified by immunofluorescence microscopy of flight muscle myofibrils. These antibodies have identified three Z-disk antigens on immunoblots of myofibrillar proteins. Monoclonal antibodies alpha:1-4 recognize a 90-100-kD protein which we identify as alpha-actinin on the basis of cross-reactivity with antibodies raised against honeybee and vertebrate alpha-actinins. Monoclonal antibodies P:1-4 bind to the high molecular mass protein, projectin, a component of connecting filaments that link the ends of thick filaments to the Z-band in insect asynchronous flight muscles. The anti-projectin antibodies also stain synchronous muscle, but, surprisingly, the epitopes here are within the A-bands, not between the A- and Z-bands, as in flight muscle. Monoclonal antibodies Z(210):1-4 recognize a 210-kD protein that has not been previously shown to be a Z-band structural component. A fourth antigen, resolved as a doublet (approximately 400/600 kD) on immunoblots of Drosophila fibrillar proteins, is detected by a cross reacting antibody, Z(400):2, raised against a protein in isolated honeybee Z-disks. On Lowicryl sections of asynchronous flight muscle, indirect immunogold staining has localized alpha-actinin and the 210-kD protein throughout the matrix of the Z-band, projectin between the Z- and A-bands, and the 400/600-kD components at the I-band/Z-band junction. Drosophila alpha-actinin, projectin, and the 400/600-kD components share some antigenic determinants with corresponding honeybee proteins, but no honeybee protein interacts with any of the Z(210) antibodies.