For more than a century, studies on tunicate muscle formation have revealed many
principles of cell fate specification, gene regulation, morphogenesis, and evolution. Here, we …

In eukaryotes, genome size correlates little with the number of coding genes or the level of
organismal complexity (C-value paradox). The underlying causes of variations in genome …

The urochordate Oikopleura dioica is emerging as a nonclassical animal model in the field
of evolutionary developmental biology (aka evo-devo) especially attractive for investigating …

Neuropeptides play pivotal roles in various biological events in the nervous,
neuroendocrine, and endocrine systems, and are correlated with both physiological …

Ascidians are the closest living relatives of vertebrates, and their study is important for
understanding the evolutionary processes of oocyte maturation and ovulation. In this study …

The in silico analyses of 109 replication-competent genomic DNA sequences isolated from
cow milk and its products (97 in the bovine meat and milk factors 2 group–BMMF2, and …

An overwhelming majority of eukaryotic introns have GT/AG ends, whose identities play a
critical role for their recognition and removal by the U2 spliceosome, a well-conserved …

Intracellular traffic amongst organelles represents a key feature for eukaryotes and is
orchestrated principally by members of Rab family, the largest within Ras superfamily. Given …

Echinoderms are important research models for a wide range of biological questions. In
particular, echinoderm embryos are exemplary models for dissecting the molecular and …

We characterized spontaneous Ca2+ signals in Oikopleura dioica embryos from pre-
fertilization to gastrula stages following injection of GCaMP6 mRNA into unfertilized eggs …