美国加州理工学院David J. Anderson、Brandon Weissbourd课题组的最新研究，建立了可用于系统和进化神经科学研究的可控水母模型。相关论文于2021年11月24日发表于国际学术期刊《细胞》。

研究人员把Clytia hemisphaerica改造为一种透明的、易于遗传操作的水母模型，用于系统和进化神经科学研究。研究人员构建了细胞类型特异性条件敲除和全生物GCaMP稳定成像的F1转基因系。使用这些工具和计算分析，研究发现表达了RFamide伞状神经元的明显弥散网络在功能上可细分为一系列空间局部子组件，其同步激活控制从触手到嘴的定向食物转移。

这些数据揭示了该物种独特的结构化神经组织构成。在生态和经济重要性日益增加的海洋生物进化枝中，Clytia为神经功能、行为和进化系统研究提供了一个平台。

据悉，水母是在5亿多年前出现的无脑径向对称生物。他们通过身体部位之间的协调互动来实现有机体行为。已经在电生理学上研究了水母神经元，但未在系统水平上进行研究。

附：英文原文

Title: A genetically tractable jellyfish model for systems and evolutionary neuroscience

Author: Brandon Weissbourd, Tsuyoshi Momose, Aditya Nair, Ann Kennedy, Bridgett Hunt, David J. Anderson

Issue&Volume: 2021/11/24

Abstract: Jellyfish are radially symmetric organisms without a brain that arose more than 500million years ago. They achieve organismal behaviors through coordinated interactionsbetween autonomously functioning body parts. Jellyfish neurons have been studied electrophysiologically,but not at the systems level. We introduce Clytia hemisphaerica as a transparent, genetically tractable jellyfish model for systems and evolutionaryneuroscience. We generate stable F1 transgenic lines for cell-type-specific conditional ablation and whole-organism GCaMPimaging. Using these tools and computational analyses, we find that an apparentlydiffuse network of RFamide-expressing umbrellar neurons is functionally subdividedinto a series of spatially localized subassemblies whose synchronous activation controlsdirectional food transfer from the tentacles to the mouth. These data reveal an unanticipateddegree of structured neural organization in this species. Clytia affords a platform for systems-level studies of neural function, behavior, and evolutionwithin a clade of marine organisms with growing ecological and economic importance.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.10.021

Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)01269-1