The colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri continuously regenerates entire bodies in an asexual budding process. The germ line of the newly developing bodies is derived from migrating germ cell precursors, but the signals governing this homing process are unknown. Here we show that germ cell precursors can be prospectively isolated based on expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase and integrin alpha-6, and that these cells express germ cell markers such as vasa, pumilio and piwi, as well as sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor. In vitro, sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) stimulates migration of germ cells, which depends on integrin alpha-6 activity. In vivo, S1P signalling is essential for homing of germ cells to newly developing bodies. S1P is generated by sphingosine kinase in the developing germ cell niche and degraded by lipid phosphate phosphatase in somatic tissues. These results demonstrate a previously unknown role of the S1P signalling pathway in germ cell migration in the ascidian Botryllus schlosseri.

BackgroundGonad differentiation is an essential function for all sexually reproducing species, and many aspects of these developmental processes are highly conserved among the metazoa. The colonial ascidian, Botryllus schlosseri is a chordate model organism which offers two unique traits that can be utilized to characterize the genes underlying germline development: a colonial life history and variable fertility. These properties allow individual genotypes to be isolated at different stages of fertility and gene expression can be characterized comprehensively.ResultsHere we characterized the transcriptome of both fertile and infertile colonies throughout blastogenesis (asexual development) using differential expression analysis. We identified genes (as few as 7 and as many as 647) regulating fertility in Botryllus at each stage of blastogenesis. Several of these genes appear to drive gonad maturation, as they are expressed by follicle cells surrounding both testis and oocyte precursors. Spatial and temporal expression of differentially expressed genes was analyzed by in situ hybridization, confirming expression in developing gonads.ConclusionWe have identified several genes expressed in developing and mature gonads in B. schlosseri. Analysis of genes upregulated in fertile animals suggests a high level of conservation of the mechanisms regulating fertility between basal chordates and vertebrates.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-1183) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A new class of fluorescent triazaborolopyridinium compounds was synthesized from hydrazones of 2-hydrazinylpyridine (HPY) and evaluated as potential dyes for live cell imaging applications. The HPY dyes are small, absorption/emission properties are tunable through variation of pyridyl or hydrazone substituents, and offer favorable photophysical characteristics featuring large Stokes shifts and general insensitivity to solvent or pH. The neutral charge, cell membrane permeability and favorable relative influences on the water solubility of HPY conjugates are complementary to existing fluorescent dyes, and offer advantages for the development of receptor-targeted small molecule probes. This potential was assessed through the development of a new class of cysteine-derived HPY-conjugate imaging agents for the kinesin spindle protein (KSP) that is expressed in the cytoplasm during mitosis, and is a promising chemotherapeutic target. Conjugates possessing the neutral HPY or charged AlexaFluor dyes that function as potent, selective allosteric inhibitors of the KSP motor were compared using biochemical and cell-based phenotypic assays, and live-cell imaging. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the HPY dye moiety as components of probes for an intracellular protein target, and highlight the importance of dye structure in determining the pathway of cell-entry, and the overall performance of small molecule conjugates as imaging agents.

Botryllus schlosseri is a colonial ascidian with characteristics that make it an attractive model for studying immunology, stem cell biology, evolutionary biology, and regeneration. Transcriptome sequencing and the recent completion of a draft genome sequence for B. schlosseri have revealed a large number of genes, both with and without vertebrate homologs, but analyzing the spatial and temporal expression of these genes in situ has remained a challenge. Here we report a robust protocol for in situ hybridization that enables the simultaneous detection of multiple transcripts in whole adult B. schlosseri using Tyramide Signal Amplification in conjunction with digoxigenin- and dinitrophenol-labeled RNA probes. Using this protocol we have identified a number of genes that can serve as markers for developing and mature structures in B. schlosseri, permitting analysis of phenotypes induced in loss-of-function experiments.

Remodeling of the extracellular matrix plays an important role in vascular homeostasis in the basal chordate Botryllus schlosseri, whose large, transparent, extracorporeal vascular network makes it an ideal system for studies of vascular mechanotransduction.