... giving rise to embryonic trunk ventral cells (TVCs) or the juvenile heart progenitors. Here, we show that Cs-Mesp , the sole ortholog of vertebrate Mesp genes in the ascidian Ciona savignyi , is specifically and transiently expressed in the embryonic heart progenitor cells (B7.5 cells). Cs-Mesp...

...Kaoru S. Imai; Nori Satoh; Yutaka Satou Ascidian larvae develop mesenchyme cells in their trunk. A fibroblast growth factor (FGF9/16/20) is essential and sufficient for induction of the mesenchyme in Ciona savignyi . We have identified two basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) genes named Twist-like1...

...Kaoru S. Imai; Yutaka Satou; Nori Satoh Multiple functions of a Zic-like zinc finger transcription factor gene ( Cs-ZicL ) were identified in Ciona savignyi embryos. cDNA clones for Cs-ZicL, a β-catenin downstream genes, were isolated and the gene was transiently expressed in the A-line notochord...

... hybridization screens of mRNAs between β-catenin overexpressed embryos and cadherin overexpressed embryos were conducted to identify potential β-catenin target genes that are responsible for endoderm differentiation in Ciona savignyi embryos. We found that a LIM-homeobox gene ( Cs-lhx3 ), an otx homolog ( Cs...

... early development in the ascidian Ciona savignyi resulted in the isolation of a number of mutants including the complementing notochord mutants chongmague and chobi . In chongmague embryos the notochord fails to develop, and the notochord cells instead adopt a mesenchyme-like fate. The failure...