02182nas a2200301 4500008004100000245011800041210006900159260004100228300001000269490000700279520123600286100002301522700002201545700002101567700001801588700001801606700002101624700002101645700001601666700001801682700001901700700002001719700002001739700002201759700002501781700002201806856005201828 2007 eng d00aThe Dugesia ryukyuensis database as a molecular resource for studying switching of the reproductive system0 aiDugesia ryukyuensisi database as a molecular resource for study bZoological Society of Japanc01/2007 a31-370 v243 a

The planarian Dugesia ryukyuensis reproduces both asexually and sexually, and can switch from one mode of reproduction to the other. We recently developed a method for experimentally switching reproduction of the planarian from the asexual to the sexual mode. We constructed a cDNA library from sexualized D. ryukyuensis and sequenced and analyzed 8,988 expressed sequence tags (ESTs). The ESTs were analyzed and grouped into 3,077 non-redundant sequences, leaving 1,929 singletons that formed the basis of unigene sets. Fifty-six percent of the cDNAs analyzed shared similarity (E-value<1E -20) with sequences deposited in NCBI. Highly redundant sequences encoded granulin and actin, which are expressed in the whole body, and other redundant sequences encoded a Vasa-like protein, which is known to be a component of germ-line cells and is expressed in the ovary, and Y-protein, which is expressed in the testis. The sexualized planarian expressed sequence tag database (http://planaria.bio.keio.ac.jp/planaria/) is an open-access, online resource providing access to sequence, classification, clustering, and annotation data. This database should constitute a powerful tool for analyzing sexualization in planarians.

1 aIshizuka, Hideyuki1 aMaezawa, Takanobu1 aKawauchi, Junpei1 aNodono, Hanae1 aHirao, Yukako1 aNishimura, Osamu1 aNakagawa, Haruka1 aSek, Kiyono1 aTasaka, Kenta1 aTarui, Hiroshi1 aAgata, Kiyokazu1 aHoshi, Motonori1 aKobayashi, Kazuya1 aSakakibara, Yasubumi1 aMatsumoto, Midori uhttp://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2108/zsj.24.3102643nas a2200157 4500008004100000245010600041210006900147260001200216490000700228520212200235100002102357700001802378700001902396700002002415856005002435 2012 eng d00aComparative transcriptome analysis between planarian Dugesia japonica and other platyhelminth species0 aComparative transcriptome analysis between planarian Dugesia jap c06/20120 v133 a

Background Planarians are considered to be among the extant animals close to one of the earliest groups of organisms that acquired a central nervous system (CNS) during evolution. Planarians have a bilobed brain with nine lateral branches from which a variety of external signals are projected into different portions of the main lobes. Various interneurons process different signals to regulate behavior and learning/memory. Furthermore, planarians have robust regenerative ability and are attracting attention as a new model organism for the study of regeneration. Here we conducted large-scale EST analysis of the head region of the planarian Dugesia japonica to construct a database of the head-region transcriptome, and then performed comparative analyses among related species. Results A total of 54,752 high-quality EST reads were obtained from a head library of the planarian Dugesia japonica, and 13,167 unigene sequences were produced by de novo assembly. A new method devised here revealed that proteins related to metabolism and defense mechanisms have high flexibility of amino-acid substitutions within the planarian family. Eight-two CNS-development genes were found in the planarian (cf. C. elegans 3; chicken 129). Comparative analysis revealed that 91% of the planarian CNS-development genes could be mapped onto the schistosome genome, but one-third of these shared genes were not expressed in the schistosome. Conclusions We constructed a database that is a useful resource for comparative planarian transcriptome studies. Analysis comparing homologous genes between two planarian species showed that the potential of genes is important for accumulation of amino-acid substitutions. The presence of many CNS-development genes in our database supports the notion that the planarian has a fundamental brain with regard to evolution and development at not only the morphological/functional, but also the genomic, level. In addition, our results indicate that the planarian CNS-development genes already existed before the divergence of planarians and schistosomes from their common ancestor.

1 aNishimura, Osamu1 aHirao, Yukako1 aTarui, Hiroshi1 aAgata, Kiyokazu uhttp://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/13/289