The Hydra genome: insights, puzzles and opportunities for Developmental Biologists

Abstract

The sequencing of a Hydra genome marked the beginning of a new era in the use of Hydra as a developmental model. Analysis of the genome sequence has led to a number of interesting findings, has required revisiting of previous work, and most importantly presents new opportunities for understanding the developmental biology of Hydra. This review will describe the history of the Hydra genome project, a selection of results from it that are relevant to developmental biologists, and some future research opportunities provided by Hydra genomics.

Evolutionary history of the mammalian synaptonemal complex

“…A mouth opening is located at the top and is surrounded by a tentacle ring used for active capturing of prey. The foot is used for adhesion to the ground of fresh water (e.g Steele 2012). Since the 18 th century, Hydra has been used for classical topics in biology, e.g.…”

Hydractinia, a pioneering model for stem cell biology and reprogramming somatic cells to pluripotency

“…It is beyond the scope of this review to provide a comprehensive analysis of the Hydractinia genome and transcriptome. Some genes of significance in the present context are mentioned in the following sections (for comparison with other cnidarian model organisms see Chapman et al, 2010;Technau and Steele, 2011;Steele, 2012).…”

Transplantation analysis of developmental mechanisms in Hydra

“…However, the relevance of head activator is currently questionable in that the coding sequence for it is not found in the genomic sequence of hydra (Steele, 2012). Future analysis is supposed to provide definitive information.…”