Whole-Body Regeneration in the Colonial Tunicate Botrylloides leachii

Blanchoud, Simon; Rinkevich, B.; Wilson, Megan J.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-92486-1_16

Cited by 29 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 94 publications

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“…Ascidians are unique among the chordates as they present robust regeneration abilities, including whole body regeneration, following an injury ( Voskoboynik et al, 2007 ; Blanchoud et al, 2018 ; Kassmer et al, 2020 ). The current study has uncovered exceptional regeneration abilities in a solitary ascidian, a group of animals considered to be regeneratively deficient compared to their colonial relatives ( Kassmer et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

And Then There Were Three…: Extreme Regeneration Ability of the Solitary Chordate Polycarpa mytiligera

Gordon

Upadhyay

Manni

et al. 2021

Front. Cell Dev. Biol.

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Extensive regenerative ability is a common trait of animals capable of asexual development. The current study reveals the extraordinary regeneration abilities of the solitary ascidian Polycarpa mytiligera. Dissection of a single individual into separate fragments along two body axes resulted in the complete regeneration of each fragment into an independent, functional individual. The ability of a solitary ascidian, incapable of asexual development, to achieve bidirectional regeneration and fully regenerate all body structures and organs is described here for the first time. Amputation initiated cell proliferation in proximity to the amputation line. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated the close affinity of P. mytiligera to colonial species. This evolutionary proximity suggests the ability for regeneration as an exaptation feature for colonial lifestyle. P. mytiligera’s exceptional regenerative abilities and phylogenetic position highlight its potential to serve as a new comparative system for studies seeking to uncover the evolution of regeneration and coloniality among the chordates.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

And Then There Were Three…: Extreme Regeneration Ability of the Solitary Chordate Polycarpa mytiligera

Gordon

Upadhyay

Manni

et al. 2021

Front. Cell Dev. Biol.

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“…We here present a hybrid flexible recirculating husbandry setup for the long-term in-lab culture of colonial ascidians. We developed this prototype to sustain our research on the exceptional capacity of Botrylloides to undergo whole-body regeneration (Blanchoud et al, 2018a). Yet, in this endeavor we also set out to establish a system that would be suitable for promoting as well as popularizing these colonial ascidians as model organisms more globally.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, colonial ascidians ( Fig. 1A ) are the only known chordates capable of undergoing whole-body regeneration whereby a fully functional adult is restored from a minute fragment of vasculature in as little as 10 days (Blanchoud et al, 2018a). Third, their recently established application as bioindicators of micro-pollution (Navon et al, 2020; Tzafriri-Milo et al, 2019; Vered et al, 2019) combined with their ubiquitous localization makes these animals a perfect tool for environmental bio-surveillance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Third, their recently established application as bioindicators of micro-pollution (Navon et al, 2020; Tzafriri-Milo et al, 2019; Vered et al, 2019) combined with their ubiquitous localization makes these animals a perfect tool for environmental bio-surveillance. Fourth, some colonial ascidians have emerged as model organisms for an increasing number of research fields, including immunobiology, allorecognition, angiogenesis and aging (Blanchoud et al, 2018a). In addition, ascidians are a particularly promising source of marine natural products (MNP) with already over 1000 isolated molecules (Chen et al, 2019) and numerous reported applications including antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory and antitumoral (Palanisamy et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Artificial seawater based long-term culture of colonial ascidians

Wawrzyniak

Serrato

Blanchoud

2021

Preprint

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1.AbstractTunicates are highly diverse marine invertebrate filter-feeders that are vertebrates’ closest relatives. These organisms, despite a drastically different body plan during their adulthood, have a tissue complexity related to that of vertebrates. Ascidians, which compose most of the Tunicata, are benthic sessile hermaphrodites that reproduce sexually through a motile tadpole larval stage. Over half of the known ascidians species are able to reproduce asexually through budding, typically leading to the formation of colonies where animals, called zooids, are interconnected by an external vascular system. In addition, colonial ascidians are established models for important biological processes including allorecognition, immunobiology, aging, angiogenesis and whole-body regeneration. However, the current paucity in breeding infrastructures limits the study of these animals to coastal regions.To promote a wider scientific spreading and popularity of colonial ascidians, we have developed a flexible recirculating husbandry setup for their long-term in-lab culture. Our system is inspired both by the flow-through aquariums used by coastal ascidian labs, as well as by the recirculating in-lab systems used for zebrafish research. Our hybrid system thus combines colony breeding, water filtering and food culturing in a semi-automated system where specimens develop on hanging microscopy glass slides. Temperature, light/dark cycles, flow speed and feeding rates can be controlled independently in four different breeding environments to provide room for species-specific optimization as well as for running experiments. This setup is complemented with a quarantine for the acclimatization of wild isolates.We here present our success in breeding Botrylloides diegensis, a species of colonial ascidians, for more than 3 years in recirculating artificial seawater over 600 km from their natural habitat. We show that colonies adapt well to in-lab culturing and that a specific strain can be isolated, propagated and used for research efficiently over prolonged periods of time. The flexible and modular structure of our system can be scaled and adapted to the needs of specific species as well as of particular laboratory spaces. Overall, we show that Botrylloides diegensis can be proficiently bred in-land and suggest that our results can be extended to other species of colonial ascidians to promote research on these fascinating animals.HighlightsFirst in-land recirculating aquaculture for colonial ascidiansOver 3 years of continuous breedingSemi-automated setup with minimized maintenanceGood biomass production for strain propagation4 different culture conditions for optimized breeding for species of interest

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“…In the eighteenth century, Abraham Trembley (1719–1784) discovered regeneration in the hydra, which can recreate complete structures each time from bisected parts of the body 1 . Now, we know that some species from certain taxonomic groups, such as cnidarians, planarians, annelids and colonial ascidians, can undergo whole body regeneration and show no limitations of regeneration after recurrent fragmentations 2 – 5 . Among vertebrates, the concept of unlimited organ regeneration has been explored in several species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple cryoinjuries modulate the efficiency of zebrafish heart regeneration

Bise

Sallin

Pfefferli

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Zebrafish can regenerate their damaged hearts throughout their lifespan. It is, however, unknown, whether regeneration remains effective when challenged with successive cycles of cardiac damage in the same animals. Here, we assessed ventricular restoration after two, three and six cryoinjuries interspaced by recovery periods. Using transgenic cell-lineage tracing analysis, we demonstrated that the second cryoinjury damages the regenerated area from the preceding injury, validating the experimental approach. We identified that after multiple cryoinjuries, all hearts regrow a thickened myocardium, similarly to hearts after one cryoinjury. However, the efficiency of scar resorption decreased with the number of repeated cryoinjuries. After six cryoinjuries, all examined hearts failed to completely resolve the fibrotic tissue, demonstrating reduced myocardial restoration. This phenotype was associated with enhanced recruitment of neutrophils and decreased cardiomyocyte proliferation and dedifferentiation at the early regenerative phase. Furthermore, we found that each repeated cryoinjury increased the accumulation of collagen at the injury site. Our analysis demonstrates that the cardiac regenerative program can be successfully activated many times, despite a persisting scar in the wounded area. This finding provides a new perspective for regenerative therapies, aiming in stimulation of organ regeneration in the presence of fibrotic tissue in mammalian models and humans.

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Whole-Body Regeneration in the Colonial Tunicate Botrylloides leachii

Cited by 29 publications

References 94 publications

And Then There Were Three…: Extreme Regeneration Ability of the Solitary Chordate Polycarpa mytiligera

And Then There Were Three…: Extreme Regeneration Ability of the Solitary Chordate Polycarpa mytiligera

Artificial seawater based long-term culture of colonial ascidians

Multiple cryoinjuries modulate the efficiency of zebrafish heart regeneration

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