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Functional Studies of Regulatory Genes in the Sea Urchin Embryo

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Book cover Microinjection

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 518))

Abstract

Sea urchin embryos are characterized by an extremely simple mode of development, rapid cleavage, high transparency, and well-defined cell lineage. Although they are not suitable for genetic studies, other approaches are successfully used to unravel mechanisms and molecules involved in cell fate specification and morphogenesis. Microinjection is the elective method to study gene function in sea urchin embryos. It is used to deliver precise amounts of DNA, RNA, oligonucleotides, peptides, or antibodies into the eggs or even into blastomeres. Here we describe microinjection as it is currently applied in our laboratory and show how it has been used in gene perturbation analyses and dissection of cis-regulatory DNA elements.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Biologia Cellulare e dello Sviluppo “A. Monroy”, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Vincenzo Cavalieri & Giovanni Spinelli

  2. Istituto di Biomedicina e Immunologia Molecolare “A. Monroy”, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Palermo, Italy

    Maria Di Bernardo

Authors
  1. Vincenzo Cavalieri
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  2. Maria Di Bernardo
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  3. Giovanni Spinelli
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, W. University Boulevard 150, Melbourne, 32901, U.S.A.

    David J. Carroll

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© 2009 Humana Press, a part of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Cavalieri, V., Bernardo, M.D., Spinelli, G. (2009). Functional Studies of Regulatory Genes in the Sea Urchin Embryo. In: Carroll, D. (eds) Microinjection. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 518. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-202-1_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-202-1_13

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-884-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-202-1

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