Inducible in vivo genome editing in the sea star Patiria miniata

For centuries, echinoderms, a marine-invertebrate phylum, have fascinated scientists for their developmental and postembryonic phenomen. Experimentation on their eggs and embryos in particular have contributed foundation scientific advances. However, powerful molecular genetic studies are restricted to embryonic developmental stages which are amenable to genetic perturbation by microinjection of reagents into the zygotes. This represents a significant bottleneck to the study of postembryonic processes in where the earliest function of a gene must remain intact. We therefore sought to establish a spatio-temporal turnable gene editing tool for these species. Here, using the sea star Patiria miniata as a model we introduce a chemically inducible, Tet-ON, gene expression system. Pairing this Tet-ON system with CRISPR-mediated gene alteration technology we show as a proof-of-principle demonstration an inducible gene editing in the sea star transgenic cell populations for the first time in echinoderm biology. The approach we show here can be adapted for use in other species of echinoderms and will also extend experimental possibilities tremendously.