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© 2009 • 592 pp., illus., appendix, index
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Until recently, a small number of model organisms has been the focus of most research in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. But in the last few years, due in part to increased interest in questions of evolution, technical advances in selectively altering gene expression patterns, and the reduced costs of genome sequencing, the range of organisms used for research is greatly expanding. Emerging Model Organisms, Volume 1, introduces the reader to this new generation of model organisms, providing a diverse catalog of potential species useful for extending research in new directions. In this volume leading experts provide chapters on 23 emerging model systems, ranging from bat and butterfly to cave fish and choanoflagellates; cricket and finch to quail, snail, and tomato. Subsequent releases of the Emerging Model Organisms series, already in preparation, will focus on additional species. Material is also available in CSH Protocols: www.cshprotocols.org/emo

  “Emerging Model Organisms is a laboratory manual that will help scientists expand their work to new and relevant genetic or physiologic systems. This new book presents profiles and protocols for a wide variety of model organisms that are anything but ordinary. Each of the 23 chapters in Volume 1 focuses on a particular organism or group of related organisms, and begins with discussion of the organisms’ background, utility in research, distribution sources and husbandry information. Key protocols on maintaining and working with the organism are provided. These detailed instructions allow the reader to have quick access to the essential information that is necessary for using these unique models. Additional resources include information on related species, genomic resources and Internet databases.”
      —Disease Models & Mechanisms

  “The first volume of Emerging Model Organisms illustrates the bewildering variety of natural histories and rapidly advancing techniques that have been developed to work with a wide spectrum of organisms. If Darwin were around now, he would have been the first to happily make use of this manual — and would be impatiently awaiting the forthcoming tome, describing the emergence of honeybees, squids, ascidians, rabbits, ants...and many more.”
      —Nature Cell Biology

1. The Choanoflagellates: Heterotrophic Nanoflagellates and Sister Group of the Metazoa

N. King, S.L. Young, M. Abedin, M. Carr, and B.S.C. Leadbeater

2. Dictyostelium discoideum: The Social Ameba

P. Gaudet, P. Fey, and R. Chisholm

3. The Moss Physcomitrella patens: A Novel Model System for Plant Development and Genomic Studies

D.J. Cove, P.-F. Perroud, A.J. Charron, S.F. McDaniel, A. Khandelwal, and R.S. Quatrano

4. The Genus Antirrhinum (Snapdragon): A Flowering Plant Model for Evolution and Development

A. Hudson, J. Critchley, and Y. Erasmus

5. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum): A Model Fruit-bearing Crop

S. Kimura and N. Sinha

6. The Demosponge Amphimedon queenslandica: Reconstructing the Ancestral Metazoan Genome and Deciphering the Origin of Animal Multicellularity

B.M. Degnan, M. Adamska, A. Craigie, S.M. Degnan, B. Fahey, M. Gauthier, J.N.A. Hooper, C. Larroux, S.P. Leys, E. Lovas, and G.S. Richards

7. Comb Jellies (Ctenophora): A Model for Basal Metazoan Evolution and Development

K. Pang and M.Q. Martindale

8. Planarians: A Versatile and Powerful Model System for Molecular Studies of Regeneration, Adult Stem Cell Regulation, Aging, and Behavior

N.J. Oviedo, C.L. Nicolas, D.S. Adams, and M. Levin

9. The Snail Ilyanassa: A Reemerging Model for Studies in Development

M. Gharbiah, J. Cooley, E.M. Leise, A. Nakamoto, J.S. Rabinowitz, J.D. Lambert, and L.M. Nagy

10. Helobdella (Leech): A Model for Developmental Studies

D.A. Weisblat and D.-H. Kuo

11. Pristionchus pacificus: A Genetic Model System for the Study of Evolutionary Developmental Biology and the Evolution of Complex Life-history Traits

R. Rae, B. Schlager, and R.J. Sommer

12. The African Butterfly Bicyclus anyana: A Model for Evolutionary Genetics and Evolutionary Developmental Biology

P.M. Brakefield, P. Beldade, and B.J. Zwaan

13. The Two-spotted Cricket Gryllus bimaculatus: An Emerging Model for Developmental and Regeneration Studies

T. Mito and S. Noji

14. The American Wandering Spider Cupiennius salei: A Model for Behavioral, Evolutionary, and Developmental Studies

N.-M. Prpic, M. Schoppmeier, and W.G.M. Damen

15. The Crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis: A New Model for Anthropod Development

E.J. Rehm, R.L. Hannibal, R.C. Chaw, M.A. Vargas-Vila, and N.H. Patel

16. The Sea Lamprey Petromyzon marinus: A Model for Evolutionary and Developmental Biology

N. Nikitina, M. Bronner-Fraser, and T. Sauka-Spengler

17. The Dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula: A Reference in Jawed Vertebrates

M. Coolen, A. Menuet, D. Chassoux, C. Compagnucci, S. Henry, L. Lévèque, C. Da Silva, F. Gavory, S. Samain, P. Wincker, C. Thermes, Y. D’Aubenton-Carafa, I. Rodriguez-Moldes, G. Naylor, M. Depew, P. Sourdaine, and S. Mazan

18. The Genus Polypterus (Bichirs): A Fish Group Diverged at the Stem of Ray-finned Fishes (Actinopterygii)

M. Takeuchi, M. Okabe, and S. Aizawa

19. Astyanax mexicanus, The Blind Mexican Cave Fish: A Model for Studies in Development and Morphology

R. Borowsky

20. Darwin’s Finches: Analysis of Beak Morphological Changes During Evolution

A. Abzhanov

21. Japanese Quail: An Efficient Animal Model for the Production of Transgenic Avians

G. Poynter, D. Huss, and R. Lansford

22. The Short-tailed Fruit Bat Carollia perspicillata: A Model for Studies in Reproduction and Development

J.J. Rasweiler IV, C.J. Cretekos, and R.R. Behringer

23. Opossum (Monodelphis domestica): A Marsupial Developmental Model

A.L. Keyte and K.K. Smith

General Cautions Appendix

Index