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Article: Sea squirt's DNA makes a splash. (Evolution).(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- October 19, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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To examine how animals with backbones arose, U.S. and Japanese biologists have sequenced nearly all the DNA of Ciona intestinalis, a sea squirt.
Adult sea squirts consist largely of two connected tubes. Stuck to the ocean floor or to rocks, they suck in ocean water, from which they obtain nutrients before squirting the water back out. Despite this unassuming life, sea squirts have a unique suite of traits that has drawn the interest of evolutionary biologists.
Sea squirts such as C. intestinalis first appeared more than 500 million years ago. Although it lacks a true backbone, C. intestinalis bears many similarities to vertebrates, says Daniel S. Rokhsar ...