Journal
DEVELOPMENT
Volume 139, Issue 20, Pages 3786-3794Publisher
COMPANY BIOLOGISTS LTD
DOI: 10.1242/dev.082230
Keywords
Vasa; PGC; Germ line; Cadherin; Sea urchin; Strongylocentrotus purpuratus
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Funding
- National Institutes of Health [2R01HD028152]
- National Science Foundation [IOS-1120972]
- Human Frontier Science Program long-term fellowship
- Office Of The Director
- Office of Integrative Activities [1004057] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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The process of germ line determination involves many conserved genes, yet is highly variable. Echinoderms are positioned at the base of Deuterostomia and are crucial to understanding these evolutionary transitions, yet the mechanism of germ line specification is not known in any member of the phyla. Here we demonstrate that small micromeres (SMics), which are formed at the fifth cell division of the sea urchin embryo, illustrate many typical features of primordial germ cell (PGC) specification. SMics autonomously express germ line genes in isolated culture, including selective Vasa protein accumulation and transcriptional activation of nanos; their descendants are passively displaced towards the animal pole by secondary mesenchyme cells and the elongating archenteron during gastrulation; Cadherin (G form) has an important role in their development and clustering phenotype; and a left/right integration into the future adult anlagen appears to be controlled by a late developmental mechanism. These results suggest that sea urchin SMics share many more characteristics typical of PGCs than previously thought, and imply a more widely conserved system of germ line development among metazoans.
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