Article
Developmental Biology
Abdull J. Massri, Laura Greenstreet, Anton Afanassiev, Alejandro Berrio, Gregory A. Wray, Geoffrey Schiebinger, David R. McClay
Summary: By using scRNA-seq and computational methods, researchers studied the transcriptional changes in cell states of sea urchin embryos from development to larval stage. They found that skeletogenic and primordial germ cell trajectories diverged early, and ectodermal progenitors were distinct from other lineages by the 6th cleavage. Endomesoderm cells originated at the 6th cleavage and diverged into endoderm and mesoderm fates asynchronously.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Carolina Bracho Villavicencio, Maria C. Gomez Maduro, Ivan Hernandez-Avila
Summary: The study found that the Caribbean white sea urchin in southeastern Venezuela is facing severe overfishing issues, with a significant decrease in population densities and lack of recovery during closure periods, leading to an expected collapse. Therefore, it is recommended to strengthen management measures and restrict fishing activities to restore and maintain the populations.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
L. Palmeira-Pinto, A. K. Emerenciano, E. Bergami, W. R. Joviano, A. R. Rosa, C. L. Neves, I. Corsi, L. F. Marques-Santos, J. R. M. C. Silva
Summary: This study investigated the impact of nano-TiO2 on fertilization, embryonic and larval development of the tropical sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus. Limited toxicity was recorded for nano-TiO2 in sea urchin embryos and larvae, except for effects at the gastrula stage at 0.005μg/mL. Large agglomerates of nano-TiO2 (5μg/mL) were observed adhering onto sea urchin larvae, possibly preventing nanoparticle uptake at the highest concentrations. These findings suggest that environmental levels of nano-TiO2 may have toxicity on tropical sea urchin embryos, with potential consequences on populations and their ecological role in tropical coastal areas.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lisa May, Elizabeth Murphy McDonald, Ronald T. J. Kothera, Catherine Anna V. Toline, Vanessa M. McDonough, Zachary J. Moffitt, Carl V. Miller, Cheryl M. Woodley
Summary: The sea urchin embryo development toxicity test was used to investigate the toxicity of benthic substrate in Biscayne National Park. The results showed that the sediment interstitial water was toxic to sea urchin embryos at most of the selected sites. These toxic sediments could negatively impact the reproduction, growth, and population density of benthic invertebrates.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Cosmo Pieplow, Gary Wessel
Summary: In this study, nine nanos genes were identified and classified into three groups in the green sea urchin. In addition to the known germline Nanos and Nanos3-like genes, several previously undescribed nanos zinc-finger genes were also discovered. These findings provide important insights into germline specification and nanos gene evolution in the green sea urchin.
MOLECULAR REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Fisheries
D. A. L. Figueiredo, W. S. Santos, Fabio Montoni, Leo Kei Iwai, P. Silva Junior
Summary: Sea urchins in challenging environments require rapid and efficient responses against pathogens and invaders. Antimicrobial molecules, derived from a protein called toposome, were found in the gonads of sea urchins, providing a potential mechanism for rapid defense response.
FISH & SHELLFISH IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Fisheries
Lacey N. Dennis-Cornelius, Michael B. Williams, John A. Dawson, Mickie L. Powell, Stephen A. Watts
Summary: Sea urchins are important inhabitants of marine ecosystems and serve as an economic resource and animal model. This study found that the size and shape of the fecal pellets produced by sea urchins varied depending on their diet, with those consuming a formulated diet producing highly circular pellets surrounded by a uniform mucus coat. Analysis also revealed the presence of extensive bacterial communities in the pellets, suggesting their important role in natural food webs and potential value in aquaculture systems.
JOURNAL OF SHELLFISH RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Fisheries
Edgar Zapata-Vivenes, Mariangel Bastidas, Leida del Valle Marcano, Jorge Sonnenholzner-Varas
Summary: The study evaluated the innate immunological defenses of sea urchins to bacterial challenges through hematology parameters, in vitro phagocytosis, and total plasma protein concentrations. Results showed that sea urchins were able to efficiently eliminate pathogenic microorganisms, with colorless spherule cells (CLS) and lysozyme activity playing important roles in immune defenses. These cellular and humoral markers could be used as routine tests to monitor health status in sea urchins.
FISH & SHELLFISH IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Raymond E. Czaja, Christopher M. Pomory
Summary: Anthropogenic disturbances disrupt seagrass beds and increase seagrass bed edges. This study examined the microhabitat selection and substrate use of seagrass-associated invertebrates, particularly the role of the semi-infaunal bivalves in the habitat selection of the sea urchin. The results suggest that the presence of mussels may affect the spatial distribution of sea urchins.
Article
Developmental Biology
Himanshu Vyas, Catherine S. Schrankel, Jose A. Espinoza, Kasey L. Mitchell, Katherine T. Nesbit, Elliot Jackson, Nathan Chang, Yoon Lee, Jacob Warner, Adam Reitzel, Deirdre C. Lyons, Amro Hamdoun
Summary: Sea urchins are widely used model organisms for studying early development, but the long generation times of commonly used species have limited the application of genetic approaches. In this study, the researchers used the painted sea urchin Lytechinus pictus, which has a short generation time, to generate a homozygous mutant sea urchin line. They successfully knocked out the ABCB1 gene using CRISPR/Cas9 and observed reduced xenobiotic efflux activity in the mutant larvae.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Jacob F. Warner, James W. Lord, Samantha A. Schreiter, Katherine T. Nesbit, Amro Hamdoun, Deirdre C. Lyons
Summary: The painted urchin Lytechinus pictus has become a tractable model system for establishing transgenic sea urchin lines due to its amenability to long term laboratory culture. The first published genome of L. pictus exhibits high contiguity and will serve as a key resource for comparative functional genomics.
GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Fisheries
Raven A. Edwards, James B. McClintock
Summary: Ontogenetic allometric analyses can provide new insights into aspects of evolution, ecology, and conservation. The study on Lytechinus variegatus found nonlinear and isometric scaling between body size and various metrics of skeletal spine defense during late juvenile to adult growth phase. Interestingly, most metrics of spine defense showed a nonsignificant, body-size-independent relationship, indicating heavy investment in spine defenses at an early age for L. variegatus. On the other hand, hyperallometric scaling described the relationship between body size and lantern size (feeding efficiency), highlighting the importance of increasing food intake with age.
JOURNAL OF SHELLFISH RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Victor D. Vacquier, Amro Hamdoun
Summary: The study introduces new techniques for generating parthenogenetic larvae of the Southern California sea urchin species, Lytechinus pictus. The researchers present a gallery of photomicrographs of morphologically abnormal larvae for transcriptomic analysis, aiming to compare gene expression control between parthenogenotes and fertilization-derived larvae for insights into gene regulation mechanisms in this model organism. Knowledge gained from transcriptomics of sea urchin parthenogenotes could potentially contribute to parthenogenetic studies in mammalian embryos.
DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Gradimir Misevic, Iacob Checiu, Octavian Popescu
Summary: The study demonstrates the role of glycans in cell recognition and adhesion through the quantitatively shown glycan structure. The research reveals the significance of a specific glycan structure in embryonic development and its crucial role in cell adhesion.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Collin J. Popp, Lu Hu, Anna Y. Kharmats, Margaret Curran, Lauren Berube, Chan Wang, Mary Lou Pompeii, Paige Illiano, David E. St-Jules, Meredith Mottern, Huilin Li, Natasha Williams, Antoinette Schoenthaler, Eran Segal, Anastasia Godneva, Diana Thomas, Michael Bergman, Ann Marie Schmidt, Mary Ann Sevick
Summary: In this study, a comparison was made between a standardized low-fat diet and a personalized diet in terms of percentage of weight loss in adults with abnormal glucose metabolism and obesity. The results showed that a personalized diet did not lead to greater weight loss compared to a low-fat diet at 6 months.