Spatial transcriptomic landscape of the Ciona adult brain: functional zonalisation and cellular composition in a sessile chordate brain and a novel insight into neural gland function

While the larval nervous system has been extensively characterized, the molecular and cellular organization of the adult neural complex remains poorly defined. In this stugy, we generated spatial transcriptomic maps of the adult Ciona neural complex using the 10x Visium platform.

Clustering-based analysis identified five major tissue domains, including the cerebral ganglion, neural gland, ciliated funnel, neural gland duct/dorsal strand, and body wall muscle. To further refine spatial resolution, we computationally reconstructed super-resolution gene expression maps by integrating transcriptomic measurements with histological image features. The super-resolution maps enabled precise delineation of molecular territories within the neural complex.