ArticleBMC evolutionary biology2016
Do novel genes drive morphological novelty? An investigation of the nematosomes in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis.
Article in BMC evolutionary biology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- c-JUN controls microbial colonization via selective phagocytosis in the sea anemone Nematostella.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Extreme conservation of cnidarian stinging cell identity despite 600 million years of evolution.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Evolution of the essential geneProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Ancient Secretory Pathways Contributed to the Evolutionary Origin of an Ecologically Impactful Bioluminescence System.Molecular biology and evolution · 2024Article
- A chromosome-level genome for the nudibranch gastropod Berghia stephanieae helps parse clade-specific gene expression in novel and conserved phenotypes.BMC biology · 2024Article
- Sequential host-bacteria and bacteria-bacteria interactions determine the microbiome establishment of Nematostella vectensis.Microbiome · 2023Article
- Comparative transcriptomics reveals that a novel form of phenotypic plasticity evolved via lineage-specific changes in gene expression.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Unexpected Distribution of Chitin andBiomolecules · 2023Article
- Article
- Gene transcriptional profiles in gonads of Bacillus taxa (Phasmida) with different cytological mechanisms of automictic parthenogenesis.Zoological letters · 2022Article
- A novel regulatory gene promotes novel cell fate by suppressing ancestral fate in the sea anemoneProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Review
- Contribution of Maternal and Paternal Transmission to Bacterial Colonization inFrontiers in microbiology · 2021Article
- Functional Characterization of Hexacorallia Phagocytic Cells.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Article
- Cnidarian Pattern Recognition Receptor Repertoires Reflect Both Phylogeny and Life History Traits.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Article
- Toxin-like neuropeptides in the sea anemoneProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2020Article
- Looking Down on NF-κB.Molecular and cellular biology · 2020Review
- Evolutionary transcriptomics of metazoan biphasic life cycle supports a single intercalation origin of metazoan larvae.Nature ecology & evolution · 2020Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe evolution of novel genes is thought to be a critical component of morphological innovation but few studies have explicitly examined the contribution of novel genes to the evolution of novel tissues. Nematosomes, the free-floating cellular masses that circulate through the body cavity of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, are the defining apomorphy of the genus Nematostella and are a useful model for understanding the evolution of novel tissues. Although many hypotheses have been proposed, the function of nematosomes is unknown. To gain insight into their putative function and to test hypotheses about the role of lineage-specific genes in the evolution of novel structures, we have re-examined the cellular and molecular biology of nematosomes.
resultsUsing behavioral assays, we demonstrate that nematosomes are capable of immobilizing live brine shrimp (Artemia salina) by discharging their abundant cnidocytes. Additionally, the ability of nematosomes to engulf fluorescently labeled bacteria (E. coli) reveals the presence of phagocytes in this tissue. Using RNA-Seq, we show that the gene expression profile of nematosomes is distinct from that of the tentacles and the mesenteries (their tissue of origin) and, further, that nematosomes (a Nematostella-specific tissue) are enriched in Nematostella-specific genes.
conclusionsDespite the small number of cell types they contain, nematosomes are distinct among tissues, both functionally and molecularly. We provide the first evidence that nematosomes comprise part of the innate immune system in N. vectensis, and suggest that this tissue is potentially an important place to look for genes associated with pathogen stress. Finally, we demonstrate that Nematostella-specific genes comprise a significant proportion of the differentially expressed genes in all three of the tissues we examined and may play an important role in novel cell functions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.