Journal article

Publication year: 2008

Journal: Cold Spring Harbor protocols

Volume number: 3

Issue number: 10

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1101/pdb.prot5067

Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor

Abstract: 

The spider Cupiennius salei, commonly known as the American wandering spider, is a particularly useful laboratory model for embryological studies because
of the availability of tools to study and manipulate its embryonic development. Cupiennius
is used to study axis formation, segmentation, appendage development,
neurogenesis, and silk production. These studies contribute
to our understanding of the evolution of these
processes, but they also help us to understand the origin and
diversification
of evolutionary novelties. Comparisons between
spiders and insects can show the degree of conservation and divergence
of developmental
mechanisms during arthropod evolution. Any
embryological feature conserved between spiders and insects is likely to
represent
an ancestral feature for arthropods. Comparative
molecular embryological work in insects and spiders should eventually
allow
us to define a molecular archetype for the phylum
Arthropoda. This in itself will be a necessary cornerstone for comparing
the different metazoan phyla, including chordates.
This protocol describes the collection and fixation of embryos from C. salei.
The fixed embryos can be stored at -20°C for prolonged periods and used
for in situ hybridization, in studies of apoptosis
using terminal
deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUTP-digoxigenin nick-end labeling
(TUNEL), and for immunohistochemistry.

Harvard Citation style: Prpic, N., Schoppmeier, M. and Damen, W. (2008) Collection and Fixation of Spider Embryos, Cold Spring Harbor protocols, 3(10). https://doi.org/10.1101/pdb.prot5067

APA Citation style: Prpic, N., Schoppmeier, M., & Damen, W. (2008). Collection and Fixation of Spider Embryos. Cold Spring Harbor protocols. 3(10). https://doi.org/10.1101/pdb.prot5067