Electroporation of Transgenic DNAs in the Sea Squirt <i>Ciona</i>

Abstract

INTRODUCTION The electroporation method described here is probably the mainstay of sea squirt (Ciona) research, because the utility of transgene expression in staged embryo populations enables a wide array of biological questions to be addressed. It allows rapid identification and characterization of cis -regulatory DNA, such as tissue-specific enhancers. Electroporation of plasmids expressing fluorescent reporter genes permits live imaging and lineage tracing. Finally, structure-function relationships can be examined by expressing dominant-negative or constitutively active forms of specific proteins using appropriate cell-specific enhancers.