Urchin Genome

The new Science has a paper reporting the sequence of a sea urchin genome, as well as articles looking at specific aspects. This is an important genome, since it is the first echinoderm sequenced and echinoderms share many key developmental aspects as vertebrates.

At ~860 Mb the urchin genome is a bit larger than the Fugu (pufferfish) genomes which have been sequenced but substantially smaller than mammalian genomes (generally around 4000 Mb). With fast, cheap sequencing power on the horizon, soon all our favorite developmental models will have their genomes revealed.