Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Developmental Biology of the Sea Urchin and Other Marine Invertebrates pp 45–61Cite as

Trichoplax adhaerens, an Enigmatic Basal Metazoan with Potential

  • Protocol
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1128))

Abstract

Trichoplax adhaerens is an enigmatic basal animal with an extraordinarily simple morphological organization and surprisingly complex behaviors. Basic morphological, molecular and behavioral work is essential to better understand the unique and curious life style of these organisms. We provide basic instructions on how Trichoplax can be cultured and studied in the laboratory emphasizing behavioral and cellular aspects.

“It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”

Winston Churchill, cited in Miller and Ball 2008

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Protocol
USD   49.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Springer Nature is developing a new tool to find and evaluate Protocols. Learn more

References

  1. Syed T, Schierwater B (2002) Trichoplax adhaerens: discovered as a missing link, forgotten as a hydrozoan, re-discovered as a key to metazoan evolution. Vie Milieu 52:177–187

    Google Scholar 

  2. Schierwater B (2005) My favorite animal, Trichoplax adhaerens. Bioessays 27:1294–1302

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Grell KG, Ruthmann A (1991) Placozoa. In: Harrison FW, Westfall JA (eds) Microscopic anatomy of invertebrates. Wiley, New York, pp 13–28

    Google Scholar 

  4. Grell KG (1984) Reproduction of Placozoa. In: Engels W (ed) Advances in invertebrate reproduction. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 541–546

    Google Scholar 

  5. Signorovitch AY, Dellaporta SL, Buss LW (2005) Molecular signatures for sex in the Placozoa. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102:15518–15522

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Jackson AM, Buss LW (2009) Shiny spheres of placozoans (Trichoplax) function in anti-predator defense. Invertebr Biol 128:205–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Srivastava M, Begovic E, Chapman J, Putnam NH, Hellsten U, Kawashima T, Kuo A, Mitros T, Salamov A, Carpenter ML, Signorovitch AY, Moreno MA, Kamm K, Grimwood J, Schmutz J, Shapiro H, Grigoriev IV, Buss LW, Schierwater B, Dellaporta SL, Rokhsar DS (2008) The Trichoplax genome and the nature of placozoans. Nature 454:955–959

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Pearse VB, Voigt O (2007) Field biology of placozoans (Trichoplax): distribution, diversity, biotic interactions. Integr Comp Biol 47:677–692

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Voigt O, Collins AG, Pearse VB, Pearse JS, Hadrys H, Ender A (2004) Placozoa—no longer a phylum of one. Curr Biol 14:944–945

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Signorovitch AY, Buss LW, Dellaporta SL (2007) Comparative genomics of large mitochondria in placozoans. PLoS Genet 3:e13

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Schierwater B, Eitel M, Jakob W, Osigus HJ, Hadrys H, Dellaporta SL, Kolokotronis SO, DeSalle R (2009) Concatenated analysis sheds light on early metazoan evolution and fuels a modern “urmetazoon” hypothesis. PLoS Biol 7:36–44

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Ruthmann A, Terwelp U (1979) Disaggregation and reaggregation of cells of the primitive metazoan Trichoplax adhaerens. Differentiation 13:185–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Ueda T, Koya S, Maruyama YK (1999) Dynamic patterns in the locomotion and feeding behaviors by the placozoan Trichoplax adhaerens. Biosystems 54:65–70

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Abramoff MD, Magelhaes PJ, Ram SJ (2004) Image processing with ImageJ. J Biophotonics 11:36–42

    Google Scholar 

  15. Wyeth RC, Braubach OR, Fine A, Croll RP (2010) Videograms: a method for repeatable unbiased quantitative behavioural analysis without scoring or tracking. In: Kalueff AVV, Canavello JMM (eds) Zebrafish behavioral methods. Elsevier, New York

    Google Scholar 

  16. Wyeth RC, Willows AOD (2006) Adaptation of underwater video for near-substratum current measurement. Bio Bull 211:101–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Schuchert P (1993) Trichoplax adhaerens (Phylum Placozoa) has cells that react with antibodies against the neuropeptide Rfamide. Acta Zool 74:115–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Martinelli C, Spring J (2003) Distinct expression patterns of the two T-box homologues Brachyury and Tbx2/3 in the placozoan Trichoplax adhaerens. Dev Genes Evol 213: 492–499

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Martinelli C, Spring J (2004) Expression pattern of the homeobox gene Not in the basal metazoan Trichoplax adhaerens. Gene Expr Patterns 4:443–447

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Martinelli C, Spring J (2005) T-box and homeobox genes from the ctenophore Pleurobrachia pileus: comparison of brachyury, Tbx2/3 and Tlx in basal metazoans and bilaterians. FEBS Lett 579(22):5024–5028

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Jakob W, Sagasser S, Dellaporta S, Holland P, Kuhn K, Schierwater B (2004) The Trox-2 Hox/ParaHox gene of Trichoplax (Placozoa) marks an epithelial boundary. Dev Genes Evol 214:170–175

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Hadrys T, DeSalle R, Sagasser S, Fischer N, Schierwater B (2005) The Trichoplax PaxB gene: a putative proto-PaxA/B/C gene predating the origin of nerve and sensory cells. Mol Biol Evol 22:1569–1578

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Monteiro AS, Schierwater B, Dellaporta SL, Holland PWH (2006) A low diversity of ANTP class homeobox genes in Placozoa. Evol Dev 8:174–182

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Integrative Biology, Science Complex, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada

    Andreas Heyland, Sophie Goodall & Jeff Kranyak

  2. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Roger Croll

  3. Biology Department, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Russell Wyeth

Authors
  1. Andreas Heyland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Roger Croll
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sophie Goodall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jeff Kranyak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Russell Wyeth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Institute of Technology Dept. Biological Sciences, Melbourne, Florida, USA

    David J. Carroll

  2. University of New Mexico Dept. Biology, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

    Stephen A. Stricker

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media, New York

About this protocol

Cite this protocol

Heyland, A., Croll, R., Goodall, S., Kranyak, J., Wyeth, R. (2014). Trichoplax adhaerens, an Enigmatic Basal Metazoan with Potential. In: Carroll, D., Stricker, S. (eds) Developmental Biology of the Sea Urchin and Other Marine Invertebrates. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1128. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-974-1_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-974-1_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-62703-973-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-62703-974-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation