Meeting Abstract

P1.50  Tuesday, Jan. 4  The molecular logic of tentacle development in the sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis FRITZ, Ashleigh E*; PAULSON, Ariel; SEIDEL, Chris; GIBSON, Matthew C; University of Kansas Medical Center and Stowers Institute for Medical Research; Stowers Institute for Medical Research; Stowers Institute for Medical Research; University of Kansas Medical Center and Stowers Institute for Medical Research asf@stowers.org

Bilaterians exhibit an incredible diversity of appendage forms. The molecular pathways governing the development of these structures have been well characterized in both vertebrates and arthropods. However, very little is known about mechanisms of embryonic appendage development in pre-bilaterian animals. Cnidarians (corals, anemones, and jellyfish) are a sister group to bilaterians and posses true appendages, which we can use to gain insight into the evolution of appendage development in higher organisms. Here we describe our efforts to characterize tentacle development in planula larvae and juveniles of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, an emerging cnidarian model organism. First, to examine the cellular mechanisms of tentacle morphogenesis, we analyzed cell death, cell proliferation, and cytoskeletal morphology during tentacle development. Second, in order to identify genes that might function in tentacle development, we generated custom microarrays compared the transcriptional profile of cells within tentacle primordia to cells within the body column. We are verifying candidate genes from the microarray by RNA in situ hybridization. In the future, we will test the function of these in tentacle development with knockdown and overexpression approaches. Together, these experiments will provide direct insight into mechanisms linking patterned gene expression to epithelial morphogenesis and growth control during embryonic development of a pre-bilaterian appendage structure.