ArticleNature communications2023
Single-cell atavism reveals an ancient mechanism of cell type diversification in a sea anemone.
Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 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
23 citing papers in PubMed, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Molecular Drivers of Mutualistic Association Between Anemone and Anemonefish.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- A single-cell transcriptomic atlas reveals the emergence of medusa-specific cell states in the scyphozoan Aurelia coerulea.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Extreme conservation of cnidarian stinging cell identity despite 600 million years of evolution.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Lineage-specific elaboration of a conserved cnidogenic program drives cnidocyte diversification and illuminates cell type evolution.Research square · 2026Article
- Cosmopolitan Gene Families With Known Functions Are Hotspots for the Evolution of Novel Genes in Stony Corals.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Decoding cnidarian cell type gene regulation.Nature ecology & evolution · 2026Article
- Spatially resolved gene expression analysis illuminates location-specific functions in the reef-building coral Pocillopora acuta.PloS one · 2026Article
- Hydra at the Crossroads of Evolution: Insights into Cell-type Diversification, Regeneration, and Epigenetic Regulation.Results and problems in cell differentiation · 2026Review
- Article
- Neurite branching is associated with mixed microtubule polarity in sea anemone neurons.The Journal of experimental biology · 2025Article
- That Stinging Sensation: Modularity and the Origin of the Stinging Cell.Integrative and comparative biology · 2025Review
- Article
- Microinjection, gene knockdown, and CRISPR-mediated gene knock-in in the hard coral, Astrangia poculata.EvoDevo · 2025Article
- The application of irreversible genomic states to define and trace ancient cell type homologies.EvoDevo · 2025Article
- Changes of cell-type diversity in the polyp-to-medusa metagenesis of the scyphozoan jellyfishbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Article
- Resolving Acuticulata (Metridioidea: Enthemonae: Actiniaria), a clade containing many invasive species of sea anemones.PloS one · 2025Article
- Nematocyst Types and Characteristics in the Tentacles ofBiology · 2024Article
- On the evolutionary developmental biology of the cell.Trends in genetics : TIG · 2024Review
- A Novel Expression Domain of extradenticle Underlies the Evolutionary Developmental Origin of the Chelicerate Patella.Molecular biology and evolution · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cnidocytes are the explosive stinging cells unique to cnidarians (corals, jellyfish, etc). Specialized for prey capture and defense, cnidocytes comprise a group of over 30 morphologically and functionally distinct cell types. These unusual cells are iconic examples of biological novelty but the developmental mechanisms driving diversity of the stinging apparatus are poorly characterized, making it challenging to understand the evolutionary history of stinging cells. Using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, we show that a single transcription factor (NvSox2) acts as a binary switch between two alternative stinging cell fates. Knockout of NvSox2 causes a transformation of piercing cells into ensnaring cells, which are common in other species of sea anemone but appear to have been silenced in N. vectensis. These results reveal an unusual case of single-cell atavism and expand our understanding of the diversification of cell type identity.
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.