The Sea Squirt as a Model Organism For Biophysics
Faculty Mentor Information
Matthew L. Ferguson
Abstract
Botryllus schlosseri is a sessile marine invertebrate found in the Pacific coastal waters of the US. As a chordate, it is our nearest invertebrate relative and therefore shares many of our important biochemical pathways. By treating its water with clinical drugs, we can inhibit mechano-transductive pathways, tuning the stiffness of the extracellular matrix and causing a global vascular regression. Since the summer of 2016, we have hosted a breeding colony on the Boise State University campus. In the future we intend to use the sea squirt as a model system for investigation of chemical and mechanical circuits in a living organism. Keeping these animals alive in land-locked environments presents a unique challenge as they require precisely controlled saltwater tank conditions. Essential information about the life cycle of the organism is presented with reasonable conditions for simulating an ocean environment. We found success in relatively long term husbandry of the sea squirts through a combination of monitoring chemistry, changing tank water regularly, dosing the tank with a food several times daily, and by brushing free accumulated algae on the animals themselves roughly weekly. Optimized techniques are presented to facilitate husbandry and microscopy of sea squirts for future scientific research.
The Sea Squirt as a Model Organism For Biophysics
Botryllus schlosseri is a sessile marine invertebrate found in the Pacific coastal waters of the US. As a chordate, it is our nearest invertebrate relative and therefore shares many of our important biochemical pathways. By treating its water with clinical drugs, we can inhibit mechano-transductive pathways, tuning the stiffness of the extracellular matrix and causing a global vascular regression. Since the summer of 2016, we have hosted a breeding colony on the Boise State University campus. In the future we intend to use the sea squirt as a model system for investigation of chemical and mechanical circuits in a living organism. Keeping these animals alive in land-locked environments presents a unique challenge as they require precisely controlled saltwater tank conditions. Essential information about the life cycle of the organism is presented with reasonable conditions for simulating an ocean environment. We found success in relatively long term husbandry of the sea squirts through a combination of monitoring chemistry, changing tank water regularly, dosing the tank with a food several times daily, and by brushing free accumulated algae on the animals themselves roughly weekly. Optimized techniques are presented to facilitate husbandry and microscopy of sea squirts for future scientific research.