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Collecting, rearing, spawning and inducing regeneration of the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis

Nature Protocols volume 8, pages 916–923 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Over the past 20 years, the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, a small estuarine animal, has emerged as a powerful model system for field and laboratory studies of development, evolution, genomics, molecular biology and toxicology. Here we describe how to collect Nematostella, culture it through its entire sexual life cycle and induce regeneration for the production of clonal stocks. In less than 1 h at a suitable field site, a researcher on foot can collect hundreds of individual anemones. In a few months, it is possible to establish a laboratory colony that will be reliable in generating hundreds or thousands of fertilized eggs on a roughly weekly schedule. By inducing regeneration roughly every 2 weeks, in less than 6 months, one can establish a clonal stock consisting of hundreds of genetically identical anemones. These results can be achieved very inexpensively and without specialized equipment.

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Figure 1: Adult polyp of Nematostella vectensis.
Figure 2: Developmental stages of Nematostella vectensis.
Figure 3: Protocols for spawning Nematostella.
Figure 4: Adult Nematostella in culture.
Figure 5: Nematostella regenerating missing head structures.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by National Science Foundation grant no. MCB-0924749 (T.D. Gilmore and J.R.F.). D.J.S. was supported by a Predoctoral Fellowship Award to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research from the National Institutes of Health (no. F31 GM095289-01). D.J.S. was also supported by a Warren-McLeod Graduate Fellowship in Marine Biology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Derek J Stefanik, Lauren E Friedman & John R Finnerty

Authors
  1. Derek J Stefanik
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  2. Lauren E Friedman
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  3. John R Finnerty
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Contributions

The collection and regeneration protocols were developed by J.R.F. All authors participated in writing the manuscript and optimizing the protocols.

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Correspondence to John R Finnerty.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Data

Nematostella vectensis collection sites. (PDF 2682 kb)

Supplementary Video 1

Collection of an individual specimen of Nematostella vectensis using a wide-bore transfer pipette. (MOV 1203 kb)

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Stefanik, D., Friedman, L. & Finnerty, J. Collecting, rearing, spawning and inducing regeneration of the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis. Nat Protoc 8, 916–923 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2013.044

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