New techniques for creating parthenogenetic larvae of the sea urchin Lytechinus pictus for gene expression studies.

Sea urchins are model organisms for studying the spatial-temporal control of gene activity during development. The Southern California species, Lytechinus pictus, has a sequenced genome and can be raised in the laboratory from egg to egg in 4–5 months. Here, we present new techniques for generating parthenogenetic larvae of this species and include a gallery of photomicrographs of morphologically abnormal larvae that could be used for transcriptomic analysis. Comparison of gene expression in parthenogenotes to larvae produced by fertilization could provide novel insights into gene expression controls contributed by sperm in this important model organism. Knowledge gained from transcriptomics of sea urchin parthenogenotes could contribute to parthenogenetic studies of mammalian embryos.

海胆是研究发育过程中基因活性时空控制的模式生物。南加州的紫球海胆（Lytechinus pictus）物种具有已测序的基因组，并且可以在实验室中在4 - 5个月内从卵培育到再次产卵。在此，我们介绍了产生该物种孤雌生殖幼虫的新技术，并包含了可用于转录组分析的形态异常幼虫的显微照片集。将孤雌生殖体中的基因表达与受精产生的幼虫进行比较，可以为这种重要模式生物中精子对基因表达控制所起的作用提供新的见解。从海胆孤雌生殖体转录组学中获得的知识可能有助于哺乳动物胚胎的孤雌生殖研究。