ReviewNature reviews. Genetics2017
The origin of Metazoa: a unicellular perspective.
Review in Nature reviews. Genetics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 145 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
145 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Multifaceted Role of Vitamin D in Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review of Genetic and Pathway-Based Mechanisms.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Review
- Unicellular and Multicellular Modes of Selection Impose Distinct Constraints on Cellular Phenotype Evolution.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- A blastoporal organizer in a ctenophore.Nature · 2026Article
- Direct benefits are not necessary for the evolution of multicellularity.Nature ecology & evolution · 2026Article
- The pathoanatomy of cancer: order in paradox.EBioMedicine · 2026Review
- A smartphone analogy to explore the origin of animals.The EMBO journal · 2026Review
- Article
- From Sunlight to Signaling: Evolutionary Integration of Vitamin D and Sterol Metabolism.Metabolites · 2026Review
- Hydra at the Crossroads of Evolution: Insights into Cell-type Diversification, Regeneration, and Epigenetic Regulation.Results and problems in cell differentiation · 2026Review
- Stochastic phenotypic switching arises in response to directional selection in experimentally evolved multicellular yeast.Communications biology · 2025Article
- The evolutionary foundations of transcriptional regulation in animals.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2025Review
- A genomic perspective on fungal diversity and evolution.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2025Review
- Chromatin profiling identifies putative dual roles for H3K27me3 in regulating cell type-specific genes and transposable elements in choanoflagellates.Nature communications · 2025Article
- An ancient and essential miRNA family controls cellular interaction pathways inScience advances · 2025Article
- Review
- A red algal polysaccharide influences the multicellular development of the choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta.Current biology : CB · 2025Article
- Planar cell polarity coordination in a cnidarian embryo provides clues to animal body axis evolution.eLife · 2025Article
85 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The first animals evolved from an unknown single-celled ancestor in the Precambrian period. Recently, the identification and characterization of the genomic and cellular traits of the protists most closely related to animals have shed light on the origin of animals. Comparisons of animals with these unicellular relatives allow us to reconstruct the first evolutionary steps towards animal multicellularity. Here, we review the results of these investigations and discuss their implications for understanding the earliest stages of animal evolution, including the origin of metazoan genes and genome function.
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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.