A5085065413- Marine Sponges and Natural Products
- Marine Ecology and Invasive Species
- Marine Invertebrate Physiology and Ecology
- Marine Biology and Environmental Chemistry
- Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
- Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
- Protist diversity and phylogeny
- Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
- Aquaculture Nutrition and Growth
- RNA Research and Splicing
- Immune Cell Function and Interaction
- Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
- Trace Elements in Health
- Marine Bivalve and Aquaculture Studies
- Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
- Heavy metals in environment
- Silk-based biomaterials and applications
- Genetic diversity and population structure
- Classical Antiquity Studies
- Echinoderm biology and ecology
- Mercury impact and mitigation studies
- Bone health and osteoporosis research
- Invertebrate Immune Response Mechanisms
- Receptor Mechanisms and Signaling
- Wnt/β-catenin signaling in development and cancer
The University of Queensland
2006-2015
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
2011-2012
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2010
Nantes Université
1998
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
1998
Sponges are an ancient group of animals that diverged from other metazoans over 600 million years ago. Here we present the draft genome sequence Amphimedon queenslandica, a demosponge Great Barrier Reef, and show it is remarkably similar to animal genomes in content, structure organization. Comparative analysis enabled by sequencing sponge reveals genomic events linked origin early evolution animals, including appearance, expansion diversification pan-metazoan transcription factor,...
We know little about the genomic events that led to advent of a multicellular grade organization in animals, one most dramatic transitions evolution. Metazoan multicellularity is correlated with evolution embryogenesis, which presumably was underpinned by gene regulatory network reliant on differential activation signaling pathways and transcription factors. Many factor genes play critical roles bilaterian development largely appear have evolved before divergence cnidarian lineages. In...
BackgroundThe origin of metazoan development and differentiation was contingent upon the evolution cell adhesion, communication cooperation mechanisms. While components many major signalling pathways have been identified in a range sponges (phylum Porifera), their roles not investigated remain largely unknown. Here, we take first steps toward reconstructing developmental systems used last common ancestor to living eumetazoans by studying expression genes encoding Wnt TGF-β ligands during...
Understanding how protein structures and functions have diversified is a central goal in molecular evolution. Surveys of very divergent proteins from model organisms, however, are often insufficient to determine the features ancestral reveal evolutionary events that yielded extant diversity. Here we combine genomic, biochemical, functional, structural, phylogenetic analyses reconstruct early evolution nuclear receptors (NRs), diverse superfamily transcriptional regulators play key roles...
SUMMARY Demosponges are considered part of the most basal evolutionary lineage in animal kingdom. Although sponge body plan fundamentally differs from that other metazoans, their development includes many hallmarks bilaterian and eumetazoan embryogenesis, namely fertilization followed by a period cell division yielding distinct populations, which through gastrulation‐like process become allocated into different layers patterned within these layers. These observations suggest last common...
SUMMARY Wnt‐signalling plays a critical role in animal development, and its misregulation results serious human diseases, including cancer. While the Wnt pathway is well studied eumetazoan models, little known about evolutionary origin of components their functions. Here, we have identified key machinery Wnt–β‐catenin (canonical)‐signalling that encoded Amphimedon queenslandica (Demospongiae; Porifera) genome, namely Wnt, Fzd, SFRP, Lrp5/6, Dvl, Axin, APC, GSK3, β‐catenin, Tcf, Groucho. Most...
LIM homeobox (Lhx) transcription factors are unique to the animal lineage and have patterning roles during embryonic development in flies, nematodes vertebrates, with a conserved role specifying neuronal identity. Though genes of this family been reported sponge cnidarian, expression patterns functions Lhx non-bilaterian phyla not known. We identified two cnidarians placozoan report Nematostella demosponge Amphimedon. Members six major subfamilies represented genomes starlet sea anemone,...
Collagens are often considered a metazoan hallmark, with the fibril-forming fibrillar collagens present from sponges to human. From evolutionary studies, three collagen clades (named A, B, and C) have been defined shown be in mammals, whereas emergence of A B predates protostome/deuterostome split. Moreover, several C clade chains some invertebrate deuterostome genomes but not protostomes whose sequenced. The newly sequenced choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis, demosponge Amphimedon...
INTRODUCTION Fertilization occurs internally in Amphimedon and embryos are brooded multiple chambers throughout the adult. Each chamber contains a mixture of developmental stages, from egg to late ring stages (i.e., prehatch embryos). At end embryogenesis, swimming parenchymella larvae emerge After several hours water column, settle metamorphose into juvenile sponges. This protocol details how obtain post-larvae/juveniles as well embryos. Once isolated, these biological can be used for...
INTRODUCTIONSponges are one of the earliest branching metazoans. In addition to undergoing complex development and differentiation, they can regenerate via stem cells discern self from nonself ("allorecognition"), making them a useful comparative model for range metazoan-specific processes. Molecular analyses these processes have potential reveal ancient homologies shared among all living animals critical genomic innovations that underpin metazoan multicellularity. Amphimedon queenslandica...
INTRODUCTIONDevelopmental gene expression is analyzed predominantly via whole-mount in situ hybridization using digoxigenin-labeled RNA probes. This protocol describes how to perform this procedure Amphimedon queenslandica, including fixation, hybridization, and sectioning of embryonic, larval, post-larval juvenile stages.
A huge discrepancy in morphological diversity exists between poriferans and eumetazoans. The disparate evolutionary outcomes of these two ancient metazoan lineages may be reflected the composition, architecture, regulation genomes modern representatives. As a case study, we compare sizes upstream intergenic regions genes found within NK homeobox cluster demosponge Amphimedon queenslandica with eumetazoan orthologs. This analysis includes as well five structural interspersed cluster. are...
The Runt DNA binding domain (Runx) defines a metazoan family of sequence-specific transcription factors with essential roles in animal ontogeny and stem cell based development. Depending on cis-regulatory context, Runx proteins mediate either transcriptional activation or repression. In many contexts Runx-mediated repression is carried out by Groucho/TLE, recruited to the complex via C-terminal WRPY sequence motif that found encoded all heretofore known genes.Full-length genes were...