Energy metabolism (encompassing energy assimilation, conversion and utilization) plays a
central role in all life processes and serves as a link between the organismal physiology …

Background Adaptive evolution is one of the crucial mechanisms for organisms to survive
and thrive in new environments. Recent studies suggest that adaptive evolution could …

Although coral reef ecosystems across the globe are in decline due to climate change and
other anthropogenic stressors, certain inshore reefs of the Upper Florida Keys reef tract have …

Ascidians, particularly those highly invasive ones, are typical fouling organisms to cause
significantly negative ecological and economic influence in coastal ecosystems. Stolon …

Ascidians are marine invertebrates associated with diverse microbial communities,
embedded in their tunic, conferring special ecological and biotechnological relevance to …

Applying a proteomic approach for biomonitoring marine environments offers a useful tool
for identifying organisms' stress responses, with benthic filter-feeders being ideal candidates …

Rapid regional warming causing glacial retreat and melting of ice caps in Antarctica leads
benthic filter-feeders to be exposed to periods of food shortage and high respiratory …

Eliminating or silencing a gene's level of activity is one of the classic approaches
developmental biologists employ to determine a gene's function. A recently developed …

The normal embryogenesis of marine animals is typically confined to a species-specific
range of temperatures. Within that temperature range development results in a consistent, or …

Solitary ascidians belong to the tunicate phyla and were the first animals used by
experimental embryologists. This chapter, dedicated to these organisms, points out the …