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Background  Germ cell formation has been investigated in sessile forms of tunicates. This process involves the release of a subset of maternal transcripts from the centrosome-attracting body (CAB) in the progenitor cells of the germ line. When germ-soma segregation is completed, CAB structures are missing from the newly formed primordial germ cells (PGCs). In free-swimming tunicates, knowledge about germ cell formation is lacking. In this investigation, comparative gene expression and electron microscopy studies were used to address germ cell formation in  Oikopleura dioica  ( O. dioica ).    Results  We found that the RNA localization pattern of  pumilio  ( pum1 ) is similar to the pattern described for a subset of maternal transcripts marking the posterior end of ascidian embryos. Transcripts marking the posterior end are called postplasmic or posterior-end mark (PEM) transcripts. We found no localization of  vasa  ( vas ) transcripts to any sub-region within the germ-line precursor cells. Expression of  vas4  was detected in the newly formed PGCs. Electron microscopy studies confirmed the presence of structures with similar morphology to CAB. In the same cytoplasmic compartment, we also identified  pum1  transcripts and an epitope recognized by an antibody to histone H3 phosphorylated on serine 28.    Conclusions  Our findings support that a CAB-like structure participates in the segregation of maternal  pum1  transcripts during germ-soma separation in  O. dioica.Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (10.1186/s12861-018-0165-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Evidence for a centrosome-attracting body like structure in germ-soma segregation during early development, in the urochordate Oikopleura dioica