Nicola Franchi

TL;DR: The echinoderm immune system has been characterized as unexpectedly complex, robust, and flexible, and many echinoderms have very long life-spans that correlate with an excellent capacity for cell damage repair, and therefore are species that can serve as optimal sentinels of environmental health.

TL;DR: Cells involved in immune responses, collectively called immunocytes, represent a large fraction of hemocytes, and the presence of a cross talk between cytotoxic cells and phagocytes, mediated by secreted humoral factors, was reported.

TL;DR: Analysis of both molecular masses and tryptic digests of BsRBLs indicated that the N-terminal sequence of the purified proteins starts from residue 22 of the putative amino acid sequence, and residues 1-21 represent a signal peptide.

TL;DR: This work reviews the main studies detailing rearing, staging methods, reproduction and colony growth of the colonial tunicate Botryllus schlosseri, emphasizing the asymmetry in sexual and asexual reproduction potential, sexual reproduction in the field and the laboratory, and self‐ and cross‐fertilization.

TL;DR: Analysis of nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequences of genes involved in GSH biosynthesis, γ-glutamyl-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit, and GSH synthase in the solitary tunicate Ciona intestinalis highlighted a statistically significant increase in gene transcription, demonstrating that metal treatments have inducible effects on these genes.