Category Ranking
98%
Total Visits
921
Avg Visit Duration
2 minutes
Citations
20
Article Abstract
During sea urchin development, secretion of Nodal and BMP2/4 ligands and their antagonists Lefty and Chordin from a ventral organiser region specifies the ventral and dorsal territories. This process relies on a complex interplay between the Nodal and BMP pathways through numerous regulatory circuits. To decipher the interplay between these pathways, we used a combination of treatments with recombinant Nodal and BMP2/4 proteins and a computational modelling approach. We assembled a logical model focusing on cell responses to signalling inputs along the dorsal-ventral axis, which was extended to cover ligand diffusion and enable multicellular simulations. Our model simulations accurately recapitulate gene expression in wild-type embryos, accounting for the specification of ventral ectoderm, ciliary band and dorsal ectoderm. Our model simulations further recapitulate various morphant phenotypes, reveal a dominance of the BMP pathway over the Nodal pathway and stress the crucial impact of the rate of Smad activation in dorsal-ventral patterning. These results emphasise the key role of the mutual antagonism between the Nodal and BMP2/4 pathways in driving early dorsal-ventral patterning of the sea urchin embryo.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/dev.189944 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger: the sea urchin Arbacia lixula living on volcanic CO vents.
Mar Environ Res
August 2025
Departamento de Biología Animal, Edafología y Geología. Facultad de Ciencias. Sección Biología. Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
Anthropogenic CO emissions drive ocean acidification (OA), which reduces seawater pH and carbonate ion availability, threatening calcifying organisms such as sea urchins. This study examines the long-term effects of OA on Arbacia lixula using a natural volcanic CO vent at Fuencaliente, La Palma (Canary Islands) as an analogue of future conditions. We analyzed the external morphology, skeletal strength, mineralogy, and growth of A.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDevelopmental effects of sulfated thyroid hormones in sea urchin skeletogenesis suggest activation of non-canonical thyroid hormone signaling pathway.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne)
September 2025
Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
Thyroid hormones (THs) are essential regulators of metabolism, homeostasis, and development in metazoans. The canonical genomic pathway involves THs binding to nuclear thyroid hormone receptors (NTHRs), which modulate gene expression in vertebrates. In contrast, non-genomic pathways involve THs interacting with membrane-bound or cytoplasmic receptors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnraveling the regulative development and molecular mechanisms of identical sea urchin twins.
Nat Commun
September 2025
Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba, Shizuoka, Japan.
Since Hans Driesch's pioneering work in 1891, it has been known that animal embryos can develop into complete individuals even when divided. However, the developmental processes and molecular mechanisms enabling this self-organization remain poorly understood. In this study, we revisit Driesch's experiments by examining the development of isolated 2-cell stage blastomeres in the sea urchin, Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEffects of Increased Calcium, Magnesium, and Potassium Ion Concentrations on Survival Conditions, Growth Performance, and Physiological Parameters in Sea Urchin ().
Biology (Basel)
August 2025
Key Laboratory of Mariculture & Stock Enhancement in North China's Sea, Ministry of Agriculture, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian 116023, China.
This study examined the effects of calcium, magnesium, and potassium ion concentrations on through seven experimental rearing groups: two calcium ion levels (550 mg/L and 733 mg/L), two magnesium ion levels (1727 mg/L and 2302 mg/L), two potassium ion levels (533 mg/L and 710 mg/L), and a control. After 45 days of cultivation, 733 mg/L of calcium ions significantly reduced the survival rate, while 550 mg/L of calcium ions had no significant adverse effects on survival, growth (SGR), the feed conversion ratio (FCR), gonad colour, or immune enzyme activity, and it significantly increased the gonad index (GI). Meanwhile, 2302 mg/L of magnesium ions caused 100% mortality within 2 days, and 1727 mg/L of magnesium ions significantly reduced the survival rate and SGR while increasing the FCR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStar Power: Early life stages of an endangered sea star are robust to current and near-future warming.
PLoS One
September 2025
Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington, Friday Harbor, Washington, United States of America.
The sunflower star, Pycnopodia helianthoides, was a top benthic predator throughout its former range from Alaska to northern Mexico, until its populations were devastated starting in 2013 by a disease known as seastar wasting. The subsequent absence of sunflower stars from northern California waters was coincident with a dramatic ecological phase shift from healthy bull kelp forests (Nereocystis luetkeana) to barrens formed by purple sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus), a prey of sunflower stars. Modeling suggests that restoration and resilience of kelp forests can be enhanced by the return of sunflower stars.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF