@genikhovich.bsky.social
Evolution of developmental mechanisms, especially axial patterning. Experimental embryology. 🪸🪼
Our new paper in Science Advances asks how animals' genomes have changed since their origin from a common ancestor over 600 million years ago, and what patterns in their DNA have arisen in the churn of speciation and extinction. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Shining stars! 🌟 🎉 Our latest preprint is out, led by postdoc Beverly Naigles and research assistant Brian McGonagle, two amazing members of the lab and @mblscience.bsky.social community. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Very pleased to finally share the main story from my PhD, now published in @natcomms.nature.com ! 🎉 Using a sea anemone we discovered and characterised epithelial cell extrusion as the mechanism underlying starvation-induced cell loss. 🔗 Open-access article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Epithelial cell extrusion underlies starvation-induced cell loss in a sea anemone - Nature Communications
Epithelial cell extrusion in a sea anemone shares key hallmarks with bilaterians and is dynamically regulated by nutritional status. During starvation-induced body shrinkage, extrusion likely contribu...
nature.com
If you are interested in nervous system evolution you may want to read our review with Kei Jokura on nerve nets: "Revisiting nerve nets: functional organization and evolutionary implication" https://link.springer.com/article/10.1038/s44318-026-00879-w […] [Original post on biologists.social]
The third chapter in our coral single-cell trilogy is here. After mapping cell type diversity in Stylophora (Levy 2021) and exploring facultative symbiosis in Oculina (Levy 2025), we now uncover cell type-specific responses to heat stress. Find out more in @xgrau.bsky.social's thread below.
Cell-resolved transcriptional responses during heat-induced coral bleaching and recovery
Coral reefs depend on an intracellular symbiosis between cnidarian hosts and photosynthetic dinoflagellates that is disrupted by ocean warming, causing coral bleaching. Yet how these responses are dis...
biorxiv.org
Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾@xgrau.bsky.social · last mo.I'm happy to share our latest on #coral single-cell biology: a transcriptomic timecourse of heat stress in Stylophora pistillata, from bleaching to recovery 🪸🌊 This project was spearheaded by Shani Levy and carried through in @arnausebe.bsky.social's lab at @crg.eu. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Siphonophore genome structure and the evolution of functional specialization
Siphonophores (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) are pelagic colonial marine invertebrates with many highly specialized bodies (zooids) within a single colony. Their unique biology and ecological importance have ma...
journals.plos.org
Prebilaterian Origin of Monoaminergic Signalling is out! This paper represents four years of work, not only mine, but friends and colleagues. I am particularly grateful to Tatiana Mayorova; without her help, this paper would not have been nearly as complete. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Prebilaterian origin of monoaminergic signaling
Monoamines such as serotonin, dopamine, and tyramine regulate physiological and behavioral processes in bilaterian animals, but the evolutionary origi…
sciencedirect.com
Beautiful work on the establishment of symbiosis in anthozoans. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... And a good opportunity to re-read an exciting related paper from last year. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Co-option of lysosomal machinery shapes the evolution of the intracellular photosymbiosis supporting coral reefs
Corals harbor intracellular algal symbionts in specialized organelles that enable them to build diverse reef ecosystems. Corals and other cnidarians have repeatedly evolved this symbiosis through the ...
cell.com
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Minicollagen expression dynamics reveal a transcriptional program for cnidogenesis in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis
Cnidae are explosive harpoon-like organelles localized within stinging cells, or cnidocytes, of the phylum Cnidaria (jellyfish, hydroids, sea anemones, and corals). These unique Golgi-derived vesicula...
biorxiv.org
Congratulations to @kremnyovs.bsky.social, @tclebedeva.bsky.social and @hejnol.bsky.social - this is a fantastic paper. www.nature.com/articles/s41... Very happy to have been part of this collaboration.
A blastoporal organizer in a ctenophore - Nature
Experiments using the comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi and the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis reveal that the emergence of a core signalling pathway may have been a key innovation enabling the transit...
nature.com
1/10 For decades, cellular aggregation was considered an evolutionary dead end. Cells could come together temporarily. But complex multicellular organisms like animals? Our study, led by JP Gerdt, with Ruibao & @jennahed.bsky.social suggests it may be time to rethink that🧵 #ProtistsOnSKy
Excited to see this work from June Ordoñez's PhD published in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology! 🎉 www.frontiersin.org/journals/cel... #zoology #spiralia #development #evolution
Evidence of off-target probe binding affecting 10x Genomics Xenium gene panels compromise accuracy of spatial transcriptomic profiling
Evidence of off-target probe binding affecting 10x Genomics Xenium gene panels compromise accuracy of spatial transcriptomic profiling
Computational assessment identifies probe binding errors in a widely used commercial platform for spatial transcriptomics.
buff.ly
🐭 Female mice develop male genitals when researchers modified both copies of non-coding Enh13, which controls Sox9 gene responsible for testes development in male mice. This suggests Enh13 acts as an enhancer and a silencer of Sox9, per Nature Communications study. #SciSky #MedSky 🧪
Female mice grow testes after this single DNA tweak
Small changes in the non-coding part of the genome have a key role in sex determination.
nature.com
Here’s the last major paper from the PhD of @paulknabl.bsky.social. We were trying to understand what BMP signaling does in the sea anemone Nematostella when it is not patterning its second body axis. Check out Part 1 in BMC Biol. 2025; and here's is our Part 2 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
The anti-neural role of BMP signaling is a consequence of its ancestral function in dorsoventral patterning
Bilaterian animals with centralized nervous systems have patterns of BMP signaling activity gradient that suggest an “anti-neural” ancestral role, but the evidence for this remains unclear. This study...
journals.plos.org
I was honored to give the Prather Lectures— three talks in three days with time spent chatting with faculty, postdocs and students. This talk was in the room where I was a teaching fellow nearly 40 years ago. m.youtube.com/watch?v=nfaf...
our Inner Fish Revisited: New Insights into our Fishy Past
YouTube video by Harvard OEB
m.youtube.com
Hox #genes from 40 xenacoelomorph transcriptomes and four #genomes academic.oup.com/gbe/article/...
Patterns of Conservation and Loss of Hox Genes in Xenacoelomorph Lineage Since Divergence From Last Common Bilaterian Ancestor
Abstract. The explosion of body forms found in bilaterians is thought to be tied to the diversification of Hox transcription factors, which play a critical
academic.oup.com
(1/15) Thrilled to share new Evo-Devo work where we address the molecular, cellular & morphometric basis of an extreme axis segmentation program in the Japanese eel — an animal that forms 120 vertebrae.
biorxiv.org
Pleased to share our study on brachiopod genomes and bilaterian dorsal–ventral patterning, now out in Nature Communications. doi.org/10.1038/s414... We present the first chromosome-level genome of a brachiopod and show that the core patterning mechanism is deeply conserved across bilaterians.
Brachiopod genome unveils the evolution of BMP signalling in bilaterian body patterning - Nature Communications
A chromosome-level brachiopod genome reveals deep conservation of BMP-mediated dorsal–ventral patterning and neural inhibition, suggesting the spiralian ancestor retained the ancestral mechanism in bi...
doi.org
The @vbcscitraining.bsky.social is looking a PhD Program Manager! Needless to say this is an incredible important position. So please apply if you want to help us find, recruit and train the next generation of scientists! RT appreciated!
Vienna BioCenter Scientific Training@vbcscitraining.bsky.social · 5mo agoExciting job offer: PhD Program Manager. Lead recruitment, support PhD candidates, and shape doctoral training at a top international life sciences campus. https://ow.ly/3YkN50YAuGM Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Max Perutz Labs Vienna, IMP, Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology
Pleased to announce two new publications, in Current Biology and PNAS, from outstanding postdoc Delai (Dylan) Huang, just a week before he leaves to start his new faculty position at Zhejiang University.
The development of #salps differs from that of #ascidians in the presence of maternal cells called calymmocytes. This study of #embryogenesis in 2 salp species identifies distinct cleavage patterns & blastomere positioning, informing the study of their #evolution @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4bscc6j
Super proud of Tanya receiving the @gfeev.bsky.social PhD Award. Very well deserved!
Tatiana Lebedeva@tclebedeva.bsky.social · 5mo agoHonored and very grateful to receive the GfE PhD Award 2026! Many thanks to GfE for the recognition of our work! This would not have been possible without the guidance of my supervisor @genikhovich.bsky.social and the many amazing collaborators and colleagues who contributed along the way ❤️.#GfE2026
Basically "Working out at the airport" We ran a special issue on fun and play in animals back in 2015 www.cell.com/current-biol...
Issue: Current Biology
cell.com
ContempraInn 🌹@contemprainn.bsky.social · 6mo agoA raven switches between hanging upside down and briefly swinging from its beak in Poland, a playful and exploratory behavior Just Having Fun 😃
Division of labor between ERK and Notch signaling coordinates distinct stem cell populations during jellyfish tentacle regeneration https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.08.710341v1
A chromosome-level reference genome for the colonial marine hydrozoan Podocoryna americana https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.04.709628v1
Thrilled to share that our preprint has been accepted in Science Advances! Grateful to an incredible team & collaborators. Link: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 👏 @annaferraioli.bsky.social @maikekittelmann.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu @hfspo.bsky.social #ctenophores
The 3D architecture of the ctenophore aboral organ and the evolution of complex integrative centers in animals
The ctenophore aboral organ integrates multimodal sensory signals across distinct cell types.
science.org
Pawel Burkhardt@pawelburkhardt.bsky.social · last yr.Ctenophores possess a unique aboral organ that acts as a multisensory center, controlling complex behaviors. We’ve now created a ctenophore model integrated with our 3D volume EM data. Puts it into perspective. Check out our recent work here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #ctenophores #volumeEM
Final version @nature.com of our paper describing unconventional multicellular development in a choanoflagellate inhabiting an extreme environment. A ton of new data since the first @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint (which we've kept updating). A brief 🧵 (carried over from the old place)
Nature Portfolio@natureportfolio.nature.com · 6mo agoA study in Nature shows that the single-celled form of a tiny, aquatic organism can turn into a multicellular version by three different routes. The discovery adds insight to the possible origins of multicellular life, suggesting a previously unrecognized degree of flexibility. 🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Morphological, molecular, and functional evidence for a CNS-like oral nerve ring in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis
The emergence of centralized nervous systems reflects a major inflection point in evolution, enabling animals to integrate diverse inputs and coordinate complex behaviors. Neural centralization is typically associated with Bilateria, whereas their sister group, Cnidaria (jellyfish, anemones, and corals), has long been thought to rely on diffuse nerve nets mediating simple reflexes. This view, reinforced by limited anatomical and molecular data, has left unresolved whether cnidarians can form localized centers for neural processing, a question sharpened by the growing recognition of their diverse behavioral repertoires. Here we show that the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis possesses an oral nerve ring composed of ganglion-like condensations, a hallmark of centralized organization. These neurons are enriched for excitatory, inhibitory, and modulatory receptors but lack sensory or ciliary markers, yielding a molecular profile most consistent with bilaterian interneurons. Genetic disruption of a conserved inhibitory receptor subunit predominantly expressed in the oral nerve ring delayed the initiation of swallowing in a novel feeding paradigm, demonstrating a potential role in behavioral regulation. Together, these findings provide converging anatomical, molecular, and functional evidence that cnidarians can assemble localized integrative centers, suggesting that key elements of neural centralization predated the cnidarian–bilaterian split. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Stowers Institute for Medical Research
biorxiv.org
We are thrilled to share our new pre-print: “System-wide extraction of cis-regulatory rules from sequence-to-function models in human neural development”. S2F-deeplearning models can accurately encode enhancers, yet decoding these models into human-interpretable rules remains a major challenge.