Cloning of a Twist orthologue from Enchytraeus coronatus (Annelida, Oligochaeta).

Enchytraeus coronatus is a small soil living oligochaete that can be maintained in culture with ease. Embryos are laid into cocoons, where they develop directly into a hatching worm within about two weeks. E. coronatus shows a simple morphology. Its transparency allows the microscopic analysis of developmental processes. To facilitate future studies on the development of specific tissues, like the mesoderm, we established molecular techniques and resources, like cDNA libraries, to allow the cloning of genes that are potentially relevant during development of the oligochaete. In this paper, we present first results using these new resources and describe the cloning of the Twist orthologue from E. coronatus. The Enchytraeus Twist protein (EcTwist) harbors all characteristic sequence features common for a true Twist orthologue. We believe that the resources described herein will facilitate phylogenetic studies on the molecular level, which will help to understand lophotrochozoan evolution.