Sea cucumbers: an emerging system in evo-devo
Sea cucumbers: an emerging system in evo-devo
Date
2024-02-17
Authors
Perillo, Margherita
Maria Sepe, Rosa
Paganos, Periklis
Toscano, Alfonso
Annunziata, Rossella
Maria Sepe, Rosa
Paganos, Periklis
Toscano, Alfonso
Annunziata, Rossella
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DOI
10.1186/s13227-023-00220-0
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Keywords
Echinoderm
Sea cucumber
Embryo
Larva
Experimental system
Evo-devo
Sea cucumber
Embryo
Larva
Experimental system
Evo-devo
Abstract
A challenge for evolutionary developmental (evo-devo) biology is to expand the breadth of research organisms used to investigate how animal diversity has evolved through changes in embryonic development. New experimental systems should couple a relevant phylogenetic position with available molecular tools and genomic resources. As a phylum of the sister group to chordates, echinoderms extensively contributed to our knowledge of embryonic patterning, organ development and cell-type evolution. Echinoderms display a variety of larval forms with diverse shapes, making them a suitable group to compare the evolution of embryonic developmental strategies. However, because of the laboratory accessibility and the already available techniques, most studies focus on sea urchins and sea stars mainly. As a comparative approach, the field would benefit from including information on other members of this group, like the sea cucumbers (holothuroids), for which little is known on the molecular basis of their development. Here, we review the spawning and culture methods, the available morphological and molecular information, and the current state of genomic and transcriptomic resources on sea cucumbers. With the goal of making this system accessible to the broader community, we discuss how sea cucumber embryos and larvae can be a powerful system to address the open questions in evo-devo, including understanding the origins of bilaterian structures.
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© The Author(s), 2024. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Perillo, M., Sepe, R. M., Paganos, P., Toscano, A., & Annunziata, R. (2024). Sea cucumbers: an emerging system in evo-devo. EvoDevo, 15(1), 3, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13227-023-00220-0.
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Perillo, M., Sepe, R. M., Paganos, P., Toscano, A., & Annunziata, R. (2024). Sea cucumbers: an emerging system in evo-devo. EvoDevo, 15(1), 3.