Spatial Patterns of Arylsulfatase mRNA Expression in Sea Urchin Embryo: (arylsulfatase/sea urchin embryo/gene expression).

Abstract

Previously we showed that the arylsulfatase (Ars) activity increases markedly after the mesenchyme blastula stage, and that the increase in its activity is due to initiation of the Ars gene transcription. In order to detect cells responsible for Ars mRNA production in the sea urchin embryo, we carried out in situ hybridization with the use of 35 S-labeled Ars RNA probe transcribed from Ars cDNA in a vector pT7T3-19U. The Ars gene is uniformly expressed in the cells of blastula, and the expression becomes restricted to aboral ectoderm during development by gastrula stage.