Deep quantitative proteomics of North American Pacific coast star tunicate (Botryllus schlosseri).

Botryllus schlosseri, is a model marine invertebrate for studying immunity, regeneration, and stress-induced evolution. Conditions for validating its predicted proteome were optimized using nanoElute® 2 deep-coverage LCMS, revealing up to 4930 protein groups and 20,984 unique peptides per sample. Spectral libraries were generated and filtered to remove interferences, low-quality transitions, and only retain proteins with >3 unique peptides. The resulting DIA assay library enabled label-free quantitation of 3426 protein groups represented by 22,593 unique peptides. Quantitative comparisons of single systems from a laboratory-raised with two field-collected populations revealed (1) a more unique proteome in the laboratory-raised population, and (2) proteins with high/low individual variabilities in each population. DNA repair/replication, ion transport, and intracellular signaling processes were distinct in laboratory-cultured colonies. Spliceosome and Wnt signaling proteins were the least variable (highly functionally constrained) in all populations. In conclusion, we present the first colonial tunicate's deep quantitative proteome analysis, identifying functional protein clusters associated with laboratory conditions, different habitats, and strong versus relaxed abundance constraints. These results empower research on B. schlosseri with proteomics resources and enable quantitative molecular phenotyping of changes associated with transfer from in situ to ex situ and from in vivo to in vitro culture conditions.

Tunicate gastrulation.

Tunicates are a diverse group of invertebrate marine chordates that includes the larvaceans, thaliaceans, and ascidians. Because of their unique evolutionary position as the sister group of the vertebrates, tunicates are invaluable as a comparative model and hold the promise of revealing both conserved and derived features of chordate gastrulation. Descriptive studies in a broad range of tunicates have revealed several important unifying traits that make them unique among the chordates, including invariant cell lineages through gastrula stages and an overall morphological simplicity. Gastrulation has only been studied in detail in ascidians such as Ciona and Phallusia, where it involves a simple cup-shaped gastrula driven primarily by endoderm invagination. This appears to differ significantly from vertebrate models, such as Xenopus, in which mesoderm convergent extension and epidermal epiboly are major contributors to involution. These differences may reflect the cellular simplicity of the ascidian embryo.

A new structural motif for biological iron: iron K-edge XAS reveals a [Fe4-mu-(OR)5(OR)(9-10)] cluster in the ascidian Perophora annectens.

The Phlebobranch ascidian Perophora annectens surprisingly exhibited a biological Fe/V ratio of approximately 15:1 on multichannel X-ray fluorescence analysis of two independent collections of organisms. Iron K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) indicated a single form of iron. The XAS K-edge of the first collection of blood cells was shifted approximately +1 eV relative to that of the second, indicating redox activity with average iron oxidation states of 2.67+ and 2.60+. The first-derivative iron XAS K-edge features at 7120.5, 7124, and 7128 eV resembled the XAS of magnetite but not of ferritin or of dissolved Fe(II) or Fe(III). Pseudo-Voigt fits to blood-cell iron K-edge XAS spectra yielded 12.4 integrated units of preedge intensity, indicating a noncentrosymmetric environment. The non-phase-corrected extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) Fourier transform spectrum showed a first-shell O/N peak at 1.55 angstroms and an intense Fe-Fe feature at 2.65 angstroms. Fits to the EXAFS required a split first shell with two O at 1.93 angstroms and three O at 2.07 angstroms, consistent with terminal and bridging alkoxide ligands, respectively. More distant shells included three C at 2.87 angstroms, two Fe at 3.08 angstroms, three O at 3.29 angstroms, and one Fe at 3.8 angstroms. Structural models consistent with these findings include a [Fe4(OR)13](2-/3-) broken-edged Fe4O5 cuboid or a [Fe4(OR)14](3-/4-) "Jacob's ladder" with three edge-fused Fe2(OR)2 rhombs. Either of these models represents an entirely new structural motif for biological iron. Vanadium domination of blood-cell metals cannot be a defining trait of Phlebobranch tunicates so long as P. annectens is included among them.