Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41820373›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Brachiopod genome unveils the evolution of BMP signalling in bilaterian body patterning.

Thomas D Lewin, Tosuke Sakagami, Keisuke Shimizu, Li-Jung Kao, Yi-Ling Chiu, Isabel Jiah-Yih Liao, Mu-En Chen, Kanako Hisata, Kazuyoshi Endo, Noriyuki Satoh and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Early nervous system development in the chaetognathFrontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Thomas D LewinBiodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
Tosuke SakagamiBiodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
Keisuke ShimizuResearch Institute for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine Science and Technology, Kanagawa, Japan.
Li-Jung KaoBiodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
Yi-Ling ChiuBiodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
Isabel Jiah-Yih LiaoBiodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
Mu-En ChenBiodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
Kanako HisataMarine Genomics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan.
Kazuyoshi EndoDepartment of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Noriyuki SatohMarine Genomics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4480-3572
Peter W H HollandDepartment of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1533-9376
Yue Him WongInstitute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China. timwong@szu.edu.cn.
Yi-Jyun LuoBiodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. yjluo@as.edu.tw.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3418-3146

Funding

MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) 15J01101National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 42276104Royal Society NIF\R1\201315
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The molecular control and ancestral state of dorsal-ventral patterning within spiralians remain unclear due to the remarkable diversity across species. Here we present a chromosome-level genome for the brachiopod Lingula anatina and apply functional transcriptomics to study dorsal-ventral patterning under BMP signalling control. We uncover asymmetrical activation of BMP signalling at the dorsal side of the gastrula, governed by ventral chordin expression and a 'seesaw' of BMP ligands. Using small-molecule drugs and recombinant proteins, we show that high BMP activity inhibits genes typically associated with neural patterning during gastrula and larval stages, similar to deuterostomes and non-spiralian protostomes. Our findings suggest deep conservation of this mechanism across all three major bilaterian clades, supported by striking similarities in BMP-regulated gene sets between brachiopods and Xenopus. We argue that the spiralian ancestor retained the ancestral bilaterian mechanism, although downstream network components have undergone developmental system drift.

Indexed as

Body PatterningBone Morphogenetic ProteinsGenomeInvertebratesSignal TransductionAnimalsBiological EvolutionEvolution, MolecularGastrulaGene Expression Regulation, DevelopmentalGlycoproteinsIntercellular Signaling Peptides and ProteinsPhylogenyBone Morphogenetic ProteinschordinGlycoproteinsIntercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins

Identifiers

PMID41820373
PMCPMC13121700

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Registered trials

None linked

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.