Development Flashcards
Key Feature of Dictyostelium discoidum (an amoeba) as a model organism?
Used to study social behaviour, cheating and altruism
Key Feature of Arabidopsis thaliana as a model organism?
Genetically Tractable Plant Model
Key Feature of Caenorhabditis elegans (nematode) as a model organism?
Self-reproduction in hermaphrodites
Key Feature of Ciona intestinalis (sea squirt) as a model organism?
Basal chordate
Key Feature of Danio rerio (zebrafish) as a model organism?
Transparent embryos, external development
Key Feature of Xenopus laevis as a model organism?
Good system for transplantation experiments, external development
Name the three mechanisms of gene duplication
Whole Genome Duplication; Tandem Duplications; Segmental Duplications
Define Orthologous, Paralogous and Homologous genes
Orthologous = Same gene in different organisms
Paralogous = Duplicated genes within an organism
Homologous = Genes that share a common ancestor
What did Hans Spemann do?
Used baby hair ligature experiments to show that blastomeres in salamander embryos are totipotent up to 16-cell stage
What did Hans Driesch do?
First to show that a 2-cell stage sea urchin is totipotent
What did Briggs and King do?
They were the first to successfully transplant living nuclei into enucleated eggs
What did John Gurdon do?
First to clone an animal (serial nuclear transfers)
What did Wilmut and Campbell do?
First to clone a mammal (Dolly the sheep)
What did Shinya Yamanaka do?
First to induce pluripotency in adult cells without nuclear transplantation
Define Gastrulation
The process by which the ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm reach their final positions within the embryo
What is the Organiser?
Dorsal mesoderm at the gastrula stage, which induces overlying ectoderm to become neural, and induces neighbouring mesoderm to become muscle
Define Homeotic Mutations
Mutations which result in the transformation of one body part into another
Key Feature of Hydra as a model organism?
High regenerative capacity, both sexual and asexual reproduction (also radial symmetry + diploblastic)
Key Feature of Strongylocentrotus purpuratus as a model organism?
Basal Deuterostome - Echinodermata; transparent embryos - imaging
Key Feature of Ciona intestinalis as a model organism?
Basal Chordate - Urochordata; transgenesis, imaging
Key Feature of Brachiostoma lanceolatum as a model organism?
Basal Chordate - Cephalochordate
Key Feature of Gallus gallus as a model organism?
Aves; Transplantation, Overexpression, Knockdown experiments
Key Feature of Mus musculus as a model organism?
Mammal with strong genetics
