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Investigation of Blood Cell Populations in the Development and Regeneration of a Colonial Ascidian
Author(s) -
Houck Tyler,
Boyd Megan,
Balde Erick,
Keeling Elena
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.1036.7
Subject(s) - biology , regeneration (biology) , reproduction , stem cell , zoology , budding , blood cell , ecology , evolutionary biology , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology
Botrylloides violaceus is a colonial marine ascidian capable of undergoing whole body regeneration after removal of all tissues except the peripheral vasculature. As chordates, colonial ascidians are more closely related to vertebrates than other model organisms for whole body regeneration. There is evidence that one or more populations of stem cells are present in the circulating blood of B. violaceus ; these cells may also be involved in asexual reproduction by budding. We are studying changes in blood composition during development and regeneration. Hemoblasts, a type of undifferentiated blood cell, have been implicated as stem cells in botryllid ascidians and are therefore of special interest. Comparisons of blood composition at several developmental stages are in progress. Preliminary data suggest that hemoblast composition of B. violaceus blood is stable during the regenerative process. Further, we show dramatically higher relative amounts of hemoblasts in the blood of B. violaceus compared to reported amounts in related species. This high percentage of hemoblasts may be associated with the readiness of B. violaceus to undergo regeneration at any stage of its life cycle. Support or Funding Information CSU Council on Ocean Affairs, Science & Technology (COAST); Biological Sciences Department, California Polytechnic State University