Generation of a transgenic cephalopod
- 1Columbia University
Abstract
Coleoid cephalopods (cuttlefish, octopus, and squid) are marine mollusks with elaborate nervous systems that support a diverse repertoire of complex behaviors. These include the neural control of the color, pattern, and texture of the skin, facilitating both adaptive camouflage and innate patterning that may reflect internal state. The development of transgenic cephalopods expressing fluorescent proteins, optogenetic actuators, and reporters of neural activity would contribute a new and important technology to cephalopod biology. The generation of transgenic cephalopods, however, has remained a major challenge. Here, we report the development of stable transgenic dwarf cuttlefish (Ascarosepion bandense) expressing ubiquitous nuclear-localized mScarlet, a red fluorescent protein. We evaluated multiple strategies for transgenesis, and established cuttlefish lines using both CRISPR and the transposons Sleeping Beauty and Minos. The stable expression of transgenes enabled live imaging of cell dynamics during embryonic development. The Minos transposon emerged as the most efficient transgenesis strategy and is adaptable to promoters and transgenes of choice. These strategies now enable the generation of diverse genetic tools for mechanistic studies of cephalopod biology.
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BibTeX
@misc{montague2026generation,
title = {{Generation of a transgenic cephalopod}},
author = {T. G. Montague and C. J. Gibbons and G. T. Barlow and E. V. Bashkirova and Y. Xu and E. C. Castagna and T. J. Mungioli and K. A. Patrick and A. Nemes and A. Varma and L. L. Looger and C. B. Albertin and S. Lomvardas and R. Axel},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.23.753964},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.23.753964v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Generation of a transgenic cephalopod
AU - T. G. Montague
AU - C. J. Gibbons
AU - G. T. Barlow
AU - E. V. Bashkirova
AU - Y. Xu
AU - E. C. Castagna
AU - T. J. Mungioli
AU - K. A. Patrick
AU - A. Nemes
AU - A. Varma
AU - L. L. Looger
AU - C. B. Albertin
AU - S. Lomvardas
AU - R. Axel
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.23.753964
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.23.753964v1
AB - Coleoid cephalopods (cuttlefish, octopus, and squid) are marine mollusks with elaborate nervous systems that support a diverse repertoire of complex behaviors. These include the neural control of the color, pattern, and texture of the skin, facilitating both adaptive camouflage and innate patterning that may reflect internal state. The development of transgenic cephalopods expressing fluorescent proteins, optogenetic actuators, and reporters of neural activity would contribute a new and important technology to cephalopod biology. The generation of transgenic cephalopods, however, has remained a major challenge. Here, we report the development of stable transgenic dwarf cuttlefish (Ascarosepion bandense) expressing ubiquitous nuclear-localized mScarlet, a red fluorescent protein. We evaluated multiple strategies for transgenesis, and established cuttlefish lines using both CRISPR and the transposons Sleeping Beauty and Minos. The stable expression of transgenes enabled live imaging of cell dynamics during embryonic development. The Minos transposon emerged as the most efficient transgenesis strategy and is adaptable to promoters and transgenes of choice. These strategies now enable the generation of diverse genetic tools for mechanistic studies of cephalopod biology.
ER -