A tunicate is an exclusively marine invertebrate animal, a member of the subphylum Tunicata. This grouping is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords. The subphylum was at one time called Urochordata, and the term urochordates is still sometimes used for these animals. They are the only chordates that have lost their myomeric segmentation, with the possible exception of the seriation of the gill slits. However, doliolids still display segmentation of the muscle bands.
Ascidiacea, commonly known as the ascidians or sea squirts, is a paraphyletic class in the subphylum Tunicata of sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders. Ascidians are characterized by a tough outer "tunic" made of a polysaccharide.
Trans-splicing is a special form of RNA processing where exons from two different primary RNA transcripts are joined end to end and ligated. It is usually found in eukaryotes and mediated by the spliceosome, although some bacteria and archaea also have "half-genes" for tRNAs.
Fibrobacterota is a small bacterial phylum which includes many of the major rumen bacteria, allowing for the degradation of plant-based cellulose in ruminant animals. Members of this phylum were categorized in other phyla. The genus Fibrobacter was removed from the genus Bacteroides in 1988.
Ciona is a genus of sea squirts in the family Cionidae.
Ciona intestinalis is an ascidian, a tunicate with very soft tunic. Its Latin name literally means "pillar of intestines", referring to the fact that its body is a soft, translucent column-like structure, resembling a mass of intestines sprouting from a rock. It is a globally distributed cosmopolitan species. Since Linnaeus described the species, Ciona intestinalis has been used as a model invertebrate chordate in developmental biology and genomics. Studies conducted between 2005 and 2010 have shown that there are at least two, possibly four, sister species. More recently it has been shown that one of these species has already been described as Ciona robusta. By anthropogenic means, the species has invaded various parts of the world and is known as an invasive species.
Arrestins are a small family of proteins important for regulating signal transduction at G protein-coupled receptors. Arrestins were first discovered as a part of a conserved two-step mechanism for regulating the activity of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in the visual rhodopsin system by Hermann Kühn, Scott Hall, and Ursula Wilden and in the β-adrenergic system by Martin J. Lohse and co-workers.
Phlebobranchia is an order of sea squirts in the class Ascidiacea, first described by Fernando Lahille in 1886.
The gastrin family of proteins is defined by the peptide hormones gastrin and cholecystokinin. Gastrin and cholecystokinin (CCK) are structurally and functionally related peptide hormones that serve as regulators of various digestive processes and feeding behaviors. Additional structurally related members of this family include the amphibian caerulein skin peptide, the cockroach leukosulphakinin I and II (LSK) peptides, Drosophila melanogaster putative CCK-homologs Drosulphakinins I and II, cionin, a chicken gastrin/cholecystokinin-like peptide and cionin, a neuropeptide from the protochordate Ciona intestinalis.
Thioredoxin domain-containing protein 3 (TXNDC3), also known as spermatid-specific thioredoxin-2 (Sptrx-2), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NME8 gene on chromosome 7.
Ascidiella aspersa, the European sea squirt, is a species of solitary sea squirts native to the northeastern Atlantic, from the Mediterranean Sea to Norway. They possess oval bodies up to 50 to 130 mm in length. Their branchial siphons are conical and positioned at the top of the body. They possess six to eight lobes. The atrial siphons are located at the upper third of the side of the body and possess six lobes. The body is covered by a firm transparent test that is greyish to brown in color. The test often snag detritus that remain loosely attached to the animal. When expanded, at most 40 tentacles can be observed on the inside surface of the branchial wall. Both the openings of the branchial and atrial siphons possess lighter colored ridges on their rims. They may also be frilled at times. A. aspersa are attached to the substrates by the left side of their bodies. They can be found in dense groups of unfused individuals on hard surfaces like rocks. at depths of up to 90 m (300 ft).
Cardiosporidium is a genus of parasitic alveolates in the phylum Apicomplexa. It infects the ascidian Ciona intestinalis.
Michael Levine is an American developmental and cell biologist at Princeton University, where he is the Director of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics and a Professor of Molecular Biology.
Ciona savignyi is a marine animal sometimes known as the Pacific transparent sea squirt or solitary sea squirt. It is a species of tunicates in the family Cionidae. It is found in shallow waters around Japan and has spread to the west coast of North America where it is regarded as an invasive species.
8-oxo-dGTP diphosphatase (EC 3.6.1.55, MutT, 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine triphosphatase, 8-oxo-dGTPase, 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-dGTP pyrophosphohydrolase) is an enzyme with systematic name 8-oxo-dGTP diphosphohydrolase. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction:
Sugar transporter SWEET1, also known as RAG1-activating protein 1 and stromal cell protein (SCP), is a membrane protein that in humans is encoded by the SLC50A1 gene. SWEET1 is the sole transporter from the SLC50 (SWEET) gene family present in the genomes of most animal species, with the exception of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, which has seven.
The SWEET family, also known as the PQ-loop, Saliva or MtN3 family, is a family of sugar transporters and a member of the TOG superfamily. The proteins of the SWEET family have been found in plants, animals, protozoans, and bacteria. Eukaryotic family members have 7 transmembrane segments (TMSs) in a 3+1+3 repeat arrangement.
ArcLight is a genetically-encoded voltage indicator (GEVI) created from Ciona intestinalis voltage sensor and the fluorescent protein super ecliptic pHluorin that carries a critical point mutation (A227D).
Ciona robusta is a species of marine invertebrate in the genus Ciona of the family Cionidae. The holotype was collected on the northeastern coast of Honshu Island, Japan. Populations of Ciona intestinalis known as Ciona intestinalis type A found in the Mediterranean Sea, the Pacific Ocean, east coast of North America, and the Atlantic coasts of South Africa have been shown to be Ciona robusta.
