Reverse genetic screens have helped to characterise developmental genes in several model organisms. Now, Yamada and co-workers have extended this type of analysis to Ciona intestinalis, a marine invertebrate whose larvae have the basic features of the chordate body plan (see p. 6485). The researchers have used morpholino antisense oligonucleotides to suppress the translation of 200 embryonically expressed genes of unknown function. For 14 of these genes, suppression of translation resulted in gross morphological abnormalities caused by early defects in embryogenesis. For a further 26 genes, suppression caused an abnormal tail phenotype, sometimes accompanied by nervous system defects. Because two-thirds of the genes in C. intestinalis are homologous to vertebrate genes, Yamada et al. conclude that C. intestinalis embryos should provide a powerful experimental system for the identification of developmental genes required for the formation of the chordate body plan.

© The Company of Biologists Limited 2003
2003