Sea urchin eggs are objects of wonder for the student who sees them for the first time under the microscope. The formation of the fertil ization membrane after insemination, the beauty of mitotic cleavage, the elegant swimming of embryos, remain an esthetic pleasure even for the eyes of seasoned investigators. But sea urchin eggs have other, more practical, advantages: they lend themselves to surgical operation without difficulty and they heal perfectly; they can be obtained in very large amounts and represent thus an extremely favorable material for biochemists and molecular embryologists. It is not surprising that, in view of these exceptional advantages, sea urchin eggs have attracted the interest of innumerable biologists since O. HERTWIG discovered the fusion of the pronuclei (amphimixy), in Paracentrotus lividus, almost a century ago. The purpose of the present book is to present, in a complete and orderly fashion, the enormous amount of information which has been gathered, in the course of a hun dred years of sea urchin embryology. JOSEPH NEEDHAM, in 1930, was still able to present all that was known, at that time, on the biochemistry of all possible species of developing eggs and embryos in his famous "Chemical Embryology" (Cambridge University Press) . It would no longer be possible for one man to write a modern version of what was a "Bible" for the young embryologists of forty years ago.

This book should be regarded as the continuation to my previous book Developmental Biology of the Sea Urchin Embryo, edited by the Academic Press in 1973, rather than as a new edition. Due to the exceedingly high rate of development in this field (something like 2000 papers have been published on this subject in these last 10 years), I preferred, in fact, not to describe again in detail the enormous amount of the old literature, as was attempted in my previous book, but to briefly summarize the state of the art in each problem and to describe in some detail the experiments per formed in the last 12 years. In doing so, more emphasis was given to the more recent ones and to those which can be considered as corner stones in each subject. Care was, however, taken to mention the reviews or key papers in which the reader can find a source of the details of the older literature, besides refering him to my previous book.

Echinoderms, Volume 151, the latest release in the Methods in Cell Biology series, highlights advances in the field, with this update presenting chapters on Echinoderm Genome Databases, analysis of gene regulatory networks, using ATAC-seq and RNA-seq to increase resolution in GRN connectivity, multiplex cis-regulatory analysis, experimental approaches GRN/signal pathways, BACs, analysis of chromatin accessibility using ATAC-seq, analysis of sea urchin proteins /Click IT, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing in sea urchins, super-resolution and in toto imaging of echinoderm embryos, and methods for analysis of intracellular ion signals in sperm, eggs and embryos. - Presents clear, concise protocols provided by experts who have established the echinoderms as a model systems - Highlights new advances in the field, with this update presenting interesting chapters on echinoderms

Echinoderms, Volume 150 in the Methods in Cell Biology series, highlights new advances in the field, with this update presenting interesting chapters on procuring animals and culturing of eggs and embryos, cryopreservation of sea urchin gametes, emerging echinoderm models, culturing of sand dollars, cidaroids and heart urchins, culturing echinoderm larvae through metamorphosis, microinjection methods, injection of exogenous messages and protein overexpression, blastomere transplantation, visualization of embryonic polarity, larval immune cell approaches, methods for analysis of sea urchin primordial germ cells, and protocols and best practices for toxicology and pH studies using echinoderms and several new chapters outlining the use of sea urchins in the classroom. - Clear, concise protocols provided by experts who have established the echinoderms as a model system - Highlights new advances in the field, with this update presenting interesting chapters on echinoderms

Calcification in Biological Systems provides a collection of up-to-date papers regarding calcification in a variety of biological systems. The papers are not simple reviews of the literature. Each paper reflects the personal experience of the author(s) and is rich in constructive criticism and suggestions. Topics range from basic molecular processes to general structural problems in systems as different as unicellular organisms and human skeletal tissues. Because calcification is so diffuse in the animal kingdom, this book makes no attempt to achieve a conclusive synthesis of available results and current ideas. Instead, its merit lies in its ability to be useful to investigators with different scientific backgrounds and areas of interest.

Developmental Biology of the Sea Urchin Embryo discusses both structural and experimental observations on the morphological and metabolical aspects of sea urchin embryology. It is organized into two major parts, designated morphogenesis and related problems and metabolism. These parts encompass 12 chapters that cover the role of sea urchin embryology in developmental biology and the advantages and limitations of using sea urchin embryo in the study of developmental problems. The introductory chapters describe the morphogenesis, ultrastructure, and physiology of fertilization of sea urchin embryo, including the process of modification of the egg surface. A discussion on cell dissociation and reaggregation in sea urchin embryos from blastula stage is provided. The core chapters of Part II cover the activation of respiration, nucleic acid and protein synthesis, and several other enzymatic activities.