A genome database for a Japanese population of the larvacean Oikopleura dioica

The larvacean Oikopleura dioica is a planktonic chordate, and is tunicate that belongs to the closest relatives to vertebrates. Its simple and transparent body, invariant embryonic cell lineages, and short life cycle of five days make it a promising model organism for developmental biology research. The genome browser OikoBase was established in 2013 using Norwegian O. dioica. However, genome information for other populations is not available, even though many researchers have studied local populations. In the present study, we sequenced using Illumina and PacBio RSII technologies the genome of O. dioica from a southwestern Japanese population that was cultured in our laboratory for three years. The genome of Japanese O. dioica was assembled into 576 scaffold sequences with a total length and N50 length of 56.6 Mb and 1.5 Mb, respectively. A total of 18,743 gene models (transcript models) were predicted in the genome assembly, named as OSKA2016. In addition, 19,277 non-redundant transcripts were assembled using RNA-seq data. The OSKA2016 has global sequence similarity of only 86.5% when compared with the OikoBase, highlighting the sequence difference between the two far distant O. dioica populations on the globe. The genome assembly, transcript assembly, and transcript models were incorporated into ANISEED (https://www.aniseed.cnrs.fr/) for genome browsing and blast searches. Moreover, screening of the male-specific scaffolds revealed that over 2.6 Mb of sequence were included in the male-specific Yregion. The genome and transcriptome resources from two distinct populations will be useful datasets for developmental biology, evolutionary biology, and molecular ecology using this model organism

Live imaging of apoptosis in a novel transgenic mouse highlights its role in neural tube closure

Imaging of caspase activation in living mouse embryos during development suggests that caspase-mediated cell removal facilitates neural tube closure in a temporally regulated manner

Photoinduced Formal Gallylene Transfer from Gallium-Bridged Dimetallic Complexes to 16-Electron Metal Fragments

Photoirradiation of the mixtures of Cp′(dppe)­FeGaM­(CO)₅ (Cp′ = η⁵-C₅Me₅ (Cp*), M = W (<b>2</b>), Cr (<b>3</b>); Cp′ = η⁵-C₅H₅ (Cp), M = W (<b>5</b>), Cr (<b>6</b>)) and Fe­(CO)₅ in C₆D₆ caused formal gallylene transfer from <b>2, 3</b>, <b>5</b>, and <b>6</b> to the Fe­(CO)₄ fragment to afford the gallium-bridged diiron complexes Cp′(dppe)­FeGaFe­(CO)₄ (Cp′ = Cp* (<b>1</b>), Cp (<b>4</b>)) in moderate yields. Gallylene transfers with Cp­(dppe)­FeGaFe­(CO)₄ (<b>4</b>) and M­(CO)₆ (M = W, Cr) also took place to produce <b>5</b> and <b>6</b>, respectively; however, that with Cp*­(dppe)­FeGaFe­(CO)₄ (<b>1</b>) and M­(CO)₆ did not proceed. Photoirradiation of <b>4</b> alone in toluene caused CO dissociation and dimerization to afford the gallylene-bridged tetrametallic complex {μ-Cp­(dppe)­FeGa}₂Fe₂(CO)₆(μ-CO) (<b>8</b>). In contrast to <b>4</b>, the Cp* analogue <b>1</b> gave no gallylene-bridged complex in a similar reaction

Photoinduced Formal Gallylene Transfer from Gallium-Bridged Dimetallic Complexes to 16-Electron Metal Fragments

Photoirradiation of the mixtures of Cp′(dppe)­FeGaM­(CO)₅ (Cp′ = η⁵-C₅Me₅ (Cp*), M = W (<b>2</b>), Cr (<b>3</b>); Cp′ = η⁵-C₅H₅ (Cp), M = W (<b>5</b>), Cr (<b>6</b>)) and Fe­(CO)₅ in C₆D₆ caused formal gallylene transfer from <b>2, 3</b>, <b>5</b>, and <b>6</b> to the Fe­(CO)₄ fragment to afford the gallium-bridged diiron complexes Cp′(dppe)­FeGaFe­(CO)₄ (Cp′ = Cp* (<b>1</b>), Cp (<b>4</b>)) in moderate yields. Gallylene transfers with Cp­(dppe)­FeGaFe­(CO)₄ (<b>4</b>) and M­(CO)₆ (M = W, Cr) also took place to produce <b>5</b> and <b>6</b>, respectively; however, that with Cp*­(dppe)­FeGaFe­(CO)₄ (<b>1</b>) and M­(CO)₆ did not proceed. Photoirradiation of <b>4</b> alone in toluene caused CO dissociation and dimerization to afford the gallylene-bridged tetrametallic complex {μ-Cp­(dppe)­FeGa}₂Fe₂(CO)₆(μ-CO) (<b>8</b>). In contrast to <b>4</b>, the Cp* analogue <b>1</b> gave no gallylene-bridged complex in a similar reaction