bibimbap is a specialty of Geojae island, not far from Masan. Microcosmus species from the Mediterranean Sea are eaten in France (figue de mer, violet), Italy (limone di mare, uova di mare) and Greece (fouska, φούσκα), for example, raw with lemon, or in salads with olive oil, lemon and parsley. The piure (Pyura chilensis) is used in the cuisine of Chile – it is consumed both raw and used in seafood stews like bouillabaisse. Pyura praeputialis is known as cunjevoi in Australia. It was once used as a food source by Aboriginal people living around Botany Bay, but is now used mainly for fishing bait. Model organisms for research Several factors make sea squirts good models for studying the fundamental developmental processes of chordates, such as cell-fate specification. The embryonic development of sea squirts is simple, rapid, and easily manipulated. Because each embryo contains relatively few cells, complex processes can be studied at the cellular level, while remaining in the context of the whole embryo. The eggs of some species contain little yolk and are therefore transparent making them transparency ideal for fluorescent imaging. Its maternally-derived proteins are naturally associated with pigment (in a few species only), so cell lineages are easily labeled, allowing scientists to visualize embryogenesis from beginning to end. Sea squirts are also valuable because of their unique evolutionary position: as an approximation of ancestral chordates, they can provide insight into the link between chordates and ancestral non-chordate deuterostomes, as well as the evolution of vertebrates from simple chordates. The sequenced genomes of the related sea squirts Ciona intestinalis and Ciona savignyi are small and easily manipulated; comparisons with the genomes of other organisms such as flies, nematodes, pufferfish and mammals provides valuable information regarding chordate evolution. A collection of over 480,000 cDNAs have been sequenced and are available to support further analysis of gene expression, which is expected to provide information about complex developmental processes and regulation of genes in vertebrates. Gene expression in embryos of sea squirts can be conveniently inhibited using Morpholino oligos. References Citations General references External links The Dutch Ascidians Homepage Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland A fate map of the ascidian egg Ciona savignyi Database ANISEED Ascidian Network for In Situ Expression and Embryological Data Chordate classes Cambrian Series 2 first appearances Extant Cambrian first appearances Cambrian chordates Ediacaran Paraphyletic groups