, a Mediterranean sea cucumber, has been established as a new model organism, promising advances in genetic research and conservation efforts.
“Sea cucumbers also have attributes and special skills — such as being deposit feeders, which cleans the ocean floor, and the ability to completely regenerate their whole body — that could be useful in conservation and biomedicine,” she added. To overcome this, the team led by Rossella Annunziata from SZS and Perillo pioneered a noninvasive technique to repeatedly harvest a small number of gametes over a long period of time. The microsurgery involves a small incision near a sea cucumber’s reproductive organs, allowing for the retrieval of testes or ovaries. The incision heals quickly and gives researchers the ability to harvest every few days from the same animal.
The sea cucumber Holothuria tubulosa eviscerating its organs, including ovaries . Credit: Perillo et al, Front. Ecol. Evol. 2024The team used high-resolution microscopy coupled with immunohistochemistry to document the development of the larvae, with a focus on its unique structures.