Ascidian Stock Center (ASC)

描述(由申请人提供)：本提案的目标是创建海鞘库存中心(ASC)。海鞘是研究胚胎学、基因调控网络、脊索进化和比较生理学的一个新兴模式系统。海鞘作为一个模型系统有很大的潜力，但他们提出了独特的实验挑战。海鞘模型的局限性之一是大多数海鞘群落依赖于野生捕获的动物。虽然有几个物种被研究，但海鞘属的海鞘(肠囊藻属和萨维尼亚属海鞘属)正在成为使用最广泛的，这主要是因为它们在野外分布广泛。大多数实验室对野生动物的依赖意味着供应不可靠，有时甚至无法获得，而且可以进行的实验类型有限。我们已经在加州大学圣巴巴拉分校(UCSB)的海洋实验室建立了海鞘培养设施。本申请的具体目的是建议对UCSB设施进行扩展，以容纳一个股票中心，为不断增长的海鞘社区提供服务。该库存中心的目的有两个：1)为研究实验室提供补充的Ciona成虫来源；2)产生和分发一组稳定的转基因动物，携带驱动GFP的组织特异性增强剂。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this proposal is the creation of the Ascidian Stock Center (ASC). Ascidians are an emerging model system for the study of embryology, gene regulatory networks, chordate evolution and comparative physiology. Ascidians have great potential as a model system, but they present unique experimental challenges. One of the limitations of ascidian model is the dependence of most of the ascidian community on wild-caught animals. While several species are studied, ascidians of the Ciona genus (C. intestinalis and C. savignyi) are becoming the most widely used, largely due to their wide spread distribution in the wild. The dependence of most laboratories on wild-caught animals means that supplies are unreliable, and sometimes unattainable, and that the types of experiments that can be done are limited. We have established an ascidian culturing facility at the marine laboratory of the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB). The Specific Aims of this application propose an expansion of the UCSB facility to accommodate a stock center that will service the growing ascidian community. The purpose of the stock center are two-fold: 1) provide a supplemental source of Ciona adults for research laboratories; and 2) generate and distribute a set of stable transgenic animals that carry tissue-specific enhancers that drive GFP.