Xenopus
نویسندگان
چکیده
Who or what is Xenopus? Xenopus (literally ‘strange foot’) is a genus of aquatic frogs that are native to southern Africa. These frogs are remarkably tolerant to starvation, disease, and other insults, allowing the genus to span more than 45 degrees of latitude in Sub-Saharan Africa. This formidable constitution also makes them very easy to keep in captivity, and thus Xenopus frogs are very widely used as model organisms for biomedical research (Figure 1). Each Xenopus female lays thousands of eggs at one time, which has led to the development of cell-free systems for biochemistry, molecular and cell biology studies. Moreover, fertilizing a clutch of eggs produces huge numbers of synchronized embryos, making Xenopus a widely used model for developmental biology. Finally, the large size of Xenopus oocytes has made them an important tool for studies of ion channels and transporters. Most research is done on Xenopus laevis — the species often colloquially referred to simply as ‘Xenopus’. However, in recent years, its sister species Xenopus tropicalis has emerged as a genetic model organism, owing to its simpler genome, faster life cycle and smaller size.
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ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Current Biology
دوره 20 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2010