, 2001, Rappailles et al., 2005 and Lamiable et al., 2010) and prevention of neuronal cell terminal Selleck JNK inhibitor differentiation (Sox1 Bylund et al., 2003). The focus of this study was to investigate the transcriptome of O. victoriae to detect transcripts that are potentially involved in regeneration. Blast sequence similarity searches against the NCBI non-redundant database and Gene Ontology analysis showed that 292 contigs were involved in developmental processes and 76 in cell proliferation ( Fig. 1). The process of regeneration requires large scale

reorganisation of cellular structures. Cells that are involved in initial wound healing, the formation of the blastema and subsequent differentiation to form the new appendage in ophiuroids are recruited by various means, from dedifferentiation of myocytes to migratory pluripotent cells ( Biressi et al., 2010). This large scale cellular reorganisation requires genetic control and below we detail candidate genes for the control of this process in O. victoriae. Homeobox (Hox) genes are involved in the developmental regulation of body segments and the tissues associated with those segments. Hence, the identification of Hox genes in

regenerating arms of O. victoriae is of clear importance. Four contigs with sequence similarity to known Hox genes were identified in our data learn more set. Ov_Contig_1574 matched an Aristaless-like homeobox protein of S. purpuratus. Aristaless is expressed GNE-0877 during embryonic development and is involved in limb axis

specification and patterning in Drosophila ( Campbell and Tomlinson, 1998). An Aristaless homologue has been identified in echinoderms as being expressed exclusively in the primary mesenchyme cells of the blastula stage of the developing embryo of S. purpuratus ( Zhu et al., 2001) indicating a role in morphogenesis in echinoderms. Aristaless activity during regeneration has also been reported in Hydra with increased expression being measured during head regeneration and tentacle formation ( Smith et al., 2000). Ov_Contig_4968 matched an Even skipped-like protein of S. purpuratus. Even-skipped is a classic pair ruled gene of Drosophila involved in segmentation in the developing insect embryo. Like Aristaless, a homologue of Even-skipped has been detected in sea urchin embryos in vegetal blastomeres ( Ransick et al., 2002). A zebrafish orthologue of Even-skipped is active during fin regeneration and has been implicated in fin ray specification ( Borday et al., 2001). The final two Hox genes identified in regenerating arms of O. victoriae were Ov_Contig_6515 which matched Meis1 of S. purpuratus and Ov_Contig_11884 with matches to Pitx homolog of the starfish Asterina pectinifera. Meis1 is required for hematopoiesis, vascular development and endothelial differentiation ( Minehata et al., 2008 and Cvejic et al.