Basic fibroblast growth factor induces notochord formation and the expression of As-T, a Brachyury homolog, during ascidian embryogenesis

The tadpole larva of an ascidian develops 40 notochord cells in the center of its tail. Most of the notochord cells originate from the A-line precursors, among which inductive interactions are required for the subsequent differentiation of notochord. The presumptive-endoderm blastomeres or presumptive-notochord blastomeres themselves are inducers of notochord formation. Notochord induction takes place during the 32-cell stage. In amphibia, mesoderm induction is thought to be mediated by several growth factors, for example, activins and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). In the ascidian, Halocynthia roretzi, treatment with bFGF of presumptive-notochord blastomeres that had been isolated at the early 32-cell stage promoted the formation of notochord at a low concentration of bFGF (0.02 ng/ml), while activin failed to induce notochord differentiation. The effect of bFGF reached a maximum at the end of the 32-cell stage and rapidly faded at the beginning of the subsequent cleavage, the time for full induction of notochord being at least 20 minutes. The expression of As-T, a previously isolated ascidian homolog of the mouse Brachyury (T) gene, starts at the 64-cell stage and is detectable exclusively in the presumptive-notochord blastomeres. The present study showed that presumptive-notochord blastomeres, isolated at the early 32-cell stage, neither differentiated into notochord nor expressed the As-T gene. However, when the presumptive-notochord blastomeres were coisolated or recombined with inducer blastomeres, transcripts of As-T were detected. When presumptive-notochord blastomeres were treated with bFGF, the expression of the As-T gene was also detected. These results suggest that inductive interaction is required for the expression of the As-T gene and that the expression of the As-T gene is closely correlated with the determined state of the notochord-precursor cells.