ArticlePloS one2007
Pre-bilaterian origins of the Hox cluster and the Hox code: evidence from the sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis.
Article in PloS one, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 104 papers.
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Who cites it
104 citing papers in PubMed.
- Loss of Twist impairs tentacle development and induces epithelial neoplasia in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- Topological mixing and irreversibility in animal chromosome evolution.Science advances · 2026Article
- ParaHox Genes Revisited: From Gut Patterning to Integrated Axial and Neural Organization in Rotifera.Journal of experimental zoology. Part B, Molecular and developmental evolution · 2026Article
- Patterns of Conservation and Loss of Hox Genes in Xenacoelomorph Lineage Since Divergence From Last Common Bilaterian Ancestor.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Molecular evidence from xenacoelomorph gonopore formation supports homology with the bilaterian anus.Nature ecology & evolution · 2025Article
- Aboral cell types ofScience advances · 2025Article
- De novo genome assembly of the Edwardsiid anthozoan Edwardsia elegans.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Article
- Early spinal cord development: from neural tube formation to neurogenesis.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2025Review
- Highly conserved and extremely evolvable: BMP signalling in secondary axis patterning of Cnidaria and Bilateria.Development genes and evolution · 2024Review
- Analysis of SMAD1/5 target genes in a sea anemone reveals ZSWIM4-6 as a novel BMP signaling modulator.eLife · 2024Article
- Gene Regulatory Network that Shaped the Evolution of Larval Apical Organ in Cnidaria.Molecular biology and evolution · 2024Article
- Topological structures and syntenic conservation in sea anemone genomes.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Spatial transcriptomics reveals a conserved segment polarity program that governs muscle patterning inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Gene Loss may have Shaped the Cnidarian and Bilaterian Hox and ParaHox Complement.Genome biology and evolution · 2023Article
- A conservedRNA biology · 2023Article
- A Chromosome-level Genome Assembly of the Highly Heterozygous Sea Urchin Echinometra sp. EZ Reveals Adaptation in the Regulatory Regions of Stress Response Genes.Genome biology and evolution · 2022Article
- Evolution of Gene Expression across Species and Specialized Zooids in Siphonophora.Molecular biology and evolution · 2022Article
- A mosaic of conserved and novel modes of gene expression and morphogenesis in mesoderm and muscle formation of a larval bivalve.Organisms, diversity & evolution · 2022Article
- (Non)Parallel developmental mechanisms in vertebrate appendage reduction and loss.Ecology and evolution · 2021Review
- HES and Mox genes are expressed during early mesoderm formation in a mollusk with putative ancestral features.Scientific reports · 2021Article
44 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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7 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundHox genes were critical to many morphological innovations of bilaterian animals. However, early Hox evolution remains obscure. Phylogenetic, developmental, and genomic analyses on the cnidarian sea anemone Nematostella vectensis challenge recent claims that the Hox code is a bilaterian invention and that no "true" Hox genes exist in the phylum Cnidaria. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsPhylogenetic analyses of 18 Hox-related genes from Nematostella identify putative Hox1, Hox2, and Hox9+ genes. Statistical comparisons among competing hypotheses bolster these findings, including an explicit consideration of the gene losses implied by alternate topologies. In situ hybridization studies of 20 Hox-related genes reveal that multiple Hox genes are expressed in distinct regions along the primary body axis, supporting the existence of a pre-bilaterian Hox code. Additionally, several Hox genes are expressed in nested domains along the secondary body axis, suggesting a role in "dorsoventral" patterning. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: A cluster of anterior and posterior Hox genes, as well as ParaHox cluster of genes evolved prior to the cnidarian-bilaterian split. There is evidence to suggest that these clusters were formed from a series of tandem gene duplication events and played a role in patterning both the primary and secondary body axes in a bilaterally symmetrical common ancestor. Cnidarians and bilaterians shared a common ancestor some 570 to 700 million years ago, and as such, are derived from a common body plan. Our work reveals several conserved genetic components that are found in both of these diverse lineages. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that a set of developmental rules established in the common ancestor of cnidarians and bilaterians is still at work today.
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