The hydrozoic laboratory model species Clytia hemispherica is being analysed to define transcriptomic profiles of different cell types at different larval (planula) stages and of adult jellyfish structures and organs, to produce, by in situ hybridisation, maps of known cell types and to potentially identify particular cell types related to given stages of the jellyfish.

This project focuses on identifying and characterizing the cells and molecular signals responsible for mediating settlement in cnidarian larvae, known as the “planula”. Studies focuses on settlement response in species belonging to the two main clades of cnidarians: the jellyfish Clytia hemisphaerica (medusozoan) and the coral Pocillopora acuta/damicornis (Anthozoan). Because of the key phylogenetic position of cnidarians as sister group of bilaterians and the crucial developmental and ecological implications of the larva-to-adult transition, a detailed understanding of the larval settlement response in cnidarians is likely to shed light on a variety of functional, evolutionary and ecological questions.

These polychaete worms are studied in the context of genetic adaptation of species to their environment, and their evolutionary context on the level of high throughput genomics data to produce high quality gene predictions on de-novo genome assembly and perform various analyses such as macro-synteny and phylogenomics.

With http://marimba.obs-vlfr.fr, we aim for a complementary set of selected marine metazoan models for developmental and cell biology. Marine species have long proved powerful models for understanding many cellular phenomena including the gene regulatory networks underlying cellular and developmental transitions, fertilisation, cell division, differentiation, stem cell biology, morphogenesis, regeneration, ageing and physiological responses. Promotion of invertebrate marine models empowered with computational analysis and predictions will make a significant impact in reducing the use of vertebrates and in particular mammals in biomedical research.