Periklis Paganos
@perievodevo.bsky.social
I use echinoderms as experimental systems to investigate the evolution of cell types, tissues, organs, and whole organisms.
Good to see our results from xenacoelomorphs (doi.org/10.1038/s415...) made it into the new BBC "Evolution" documentary! www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgjZ...
Molecular evidence from xenacoelomorph gonopore formation supports homology with the bilaterian anus - Nature Ecology & Evolution
The evolutionary origin of the bilaterian gut with two openings is debated. Expression in xenacoelomorphs, the sister group to bilaterians, of genes involved in bilaterian gut patterning suggests that...
doi.org
🔬 Meet Michalis Averof, ZooCELL PI at IGFL @michalis-averof.bsky.social What sparked his interest in EvoDevo? What keeps him curious after all these years? And what does he hope to discover next? 🧵 Read on to get to know Michalis through his own words. #ZooCELL#EvoDevo#genomics#IGFL#MSCA
Fantastic seminar by Chris @lowelab.bsky.social. It’s been a real pleasure having you at @szndohrn.bsky.social these days. With @arnonelab.bsky.social
🔬 Meet Ina Arnone, ZooCELL PI at @szndohrn.bsky.social In this Q&A, she shares how she discovered EvoDevo, the big questions driving their research and her passion for mentoring the next generation of scientists. Follow the thread to learn more. 👇 #MSCA #ZooCELL #EvoDevo @arnonelab.bsky.social
Very excited to see our preprint on the monoaminergic signaling system in sponges (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...) featured by @qedscience.bsky.social. This highlights the importance of studying early-branching animals to piece together how the first animal cell types communicated with each other.
An ancient monoaminergic signaling system coordinates contractility in a nerveless sponge
Chemical neurotransmission was a key animal innovation, enabling multicellular coordination of physiology and locomotion. Sponges are early-diverging animals that lack neurons and muscles, yet still c...
biorxiv.org
QED Science@qedscience.bsky.social · last mo.🎉 Meet The 1%. Out of 57,455 bioRxiv life science preprints, QED Science selected 574 exceptional manuscripts through blind evaluation. The 1%: the-one-percent.qedscience.com Good science deserves to be seen. @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social @openrxiv.bsky.social @richardsever.bsky.social
The paper from my postdoc days @mblscience.bsky.social and @zakswartz.bsky.social Lab is available in @natcomms.nature.com. www.nature.com/articles/s41... With Beverly Naigles, @carsten-wolff.bsky.social and @danivoronov.bsky.social
Published today in Open Biology, our investigation of the evolutionary and functional significance of neuropeptide cocktails. Congrats to my co-author Nayeli Escudero Castelán and thanks to @leverhulme.ac.uk and @ukri.org BBSRC for funding. royalsocietypublishing.org/rsob/article...
The evolution and functional significance of neuropeptide cocktails: insights from SALMFamides in asteroid echinoderms
Abstract. Neuropeptides derived from larger precursor proteins are neuronal signalling molecules that regulate physiological processes and behaviour. Some
royalsocietypublishing.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
What is the evolutionary origin of the organizer? New work from @kremnyovs.bsky.social, @tclebedeva.bsky.social & Hejnol Lab @uni-jena.de reports the blastopore lip of the #ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi, a member of the evolutionary sister group to all other metazoans, exhibits organizer activity.
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
61 species, 13 phyla, one simple geometric rule that appears to set when every embryo starts speaking through its own genome. 🧬 Panagiotis Giannios highlights a recent #preprint from @mirimiam.bsky.social & collaborators. #EvolutionaryBiology #preLight: prelights.biologists.com/highlights/e...
Evolutionary landscapes of zygotic genome activation across animals - preLights
61 species, 13 phyla, one simple geometric rule that appears to set when every embryo starts speaking through its own genome.
prelights.biologists.com
(1/2) What a fantastic week for the Arnone Lab at #EED2026 in Glasgow! Our lab’s work was showcased through contributed talks by @perievodevo.bsky.social in S19 and @mlrusciano.bsky.social in S02, as well as an invited talk by Ina in S15.
A fossil nervous system meets modern neurobiology. We found that a living comb jelly preserves neural architecture remarkably similar to those inferred from Cambrian fossils over 500 million years old 🤩. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Issue 8 is now complete! On the cover: Embryos of diverse animals & choanoflagellates expressing different fluorescent reporters, from a project to identify membrane-localising tags across diverse organisms. See the Techniques and Resources Article by Karapidaki et al. doi.org/10.1242/dev....
Do you want to know when your favorite species activates its genome? Just input its genome size (🧬 in bp) and egg volumen (🥚 in um3) here! ZGA_onset = -2.37 * log10(gDNA/EggVol) + 11.74
a cartoon of spongebob saying magic with his hands up
ALT: a cartoon of spongebob saying magic with his hands up
media.tenor.com
Manuel Irimia@mirimiam.bsky.social · 4mo agoThen, what determines ZGA onset?? We correlated multiple genomic, developmental and ecological features with ZGA timing and, cutting to the chase, we found that the log ratio of genome size vs. egg volume very strongly scaled negatively with ZGA onset in cell cycles! 7/15
I am honored to have been involved in this super cool open-science project. Thanks, Michalis!
Michalis Averof@michalis-averof.bsky.social · 4mo agoFinding molecular tags that localise fluorescent proteins to the cell membrane was the goal of our latest paper, now published in Development @dev-journal.bsky.social. The tags act as address labels, sending proteins to the cell membrane, where they highlight the shape and arrangement of cells. 2/9
Thrilled to be part of this beautiful work! Stay tuned😉
Manuel Irimia@mirimiam.bsky.social · 4mo agoThrilled to present our comparative study on the evolution of zygotic genome activation (ZGA)!! 🥚🧬 Amazing PhD work of @campobes.bsky.social together with @fedemantica.bsky.social and many collaborators! @melisupf.bsky.social @crg.eu. Thread below 1/15 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
New findings on genomic regulation mechanisms throughout evolution | EurekAlert! www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
New findings on genomic regulation mechanisms throughout evolution
The conservation of genome regulatory elements over long periods of evolution is not limited to vertebrates, as previously thought, but also in echinoderms (invertebrates). This is one of the most not...
eurekalert.org
Thrilled to share that I’ve been awarded a FIS-3 Advanced Grant (ERC-inspired) to study the evolution of neurogenic GRNs. Recruiting soon: 4 postdocs + 3 PhDs Press release in Italian — to decolonise scientific language 😄 magazine.unibo.it/it/articoli/... Email me if interested in joining the lab
Un viaggio all’origine dei sistemi nervosi
Il nuovo progetto GRNevo, finanziato con un grant FIS-3 Advanced da 1,9 milioni di euro, studierà come si formano i neuroni durante lo sviluppo in specie animali molto distanti tra loro: dal moscerino...
magazine.unibo.it
Coolness alert!! If you didn’t attend this fantastic microscopy course last year, make sure you do so this coming April! Don’t miss the chance to learn from the best in the field. Plus, the course takes place at @szndohrn.bsky.social, one of the most iconic marine stations in the world!
em-hoc.bsky.social@em-hoc.bsky.social · 7mo agoEMHOC’s preliminary program is out. Check it out to stay updated!
I am very happy (and a bit scared) to present to you what we have been working on over the last 4 years. This manuscript is exactly what I dreamt of when I started the lab and I could not be happier and prouder of the outcome!
bioRxivpreprint@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 7mo agoEvolutionary dynamics of temporal transcription factor series in the insect optic lobe https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.08.698497v1
Our work on the evolution of the regulatory genome of echinoderms is now out in @natecoevo.nature.com. Led by my former PhD Marta Magri, Danila Voronov & Saoirse Foley. Great collaboration of Arnone, Hinman & Maeso labs, started long time ago with our missed José Luis Gomez-Skarmeta: rdcu.be/eXX8l
Deep conservation of cis-regulatory elements and chromatin organization in echinoderms uncover ancestral regulatory features of animal genomes
Nature Ecology & Evolution - Analysis of the 3D chromatin architecture and cis-regulatory elements in a sea urchin and a sea star reveals mechanisms of 3D chromatin organization in echinoderms...
rdcu.be
Congratulations to the all team for this amazing work understanding how the cis regulatory elements and chromatin organization are relevant in the ancestral regulatory features of animal genomes. This study started with a collaboration with José Luís Gómez Skarmeta from #CABD.
Arnone Lab@arnonelab.bsky.social · 7mo agoExciting news to start the new year! We’re thrilled to see this work finally out in @natecoevo.nature.com, the result of a major collaboration between my lab and the labs of Veronica Hinman and Nacho Maeso, began many years ago with the dear José Luis Gómez-Skarmeta. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I am extremely proud and happy to announce that another paper from my PhD days has just been published in @natecoevo.nature.com on evolution of genome and gene regulation thanks to all the amazing people involved. Check the paper out at: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Deep conservation of cis-regulatory elements and chromatin organization in echinoderms uncover ancestral regulatory features of animal genomes - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Analysis of the 3D chromatin architecture and cis-regulatory elements in a sea urchin and a sea star reveals mechanisms of 3D chromatin organization in echinoderms and the long-term evolutionary dynam...
nature.com
Extremely happy to see this work out! I am deeply grateful to everyone who contributed, and especially to @danivoronov.bsky.social, who took the lead! @arnonelab.bsky.social sky is the limit! 🌊🔬🧬
Arnone Lab@arnonelab.bsky.social · 7mo agoExciting news to start the new year! We’re thrilled to see this work finally out in @natecoevo.nature.com, the result of a major collaboration between my lab and the labs of Veronica Hinman and Nacho Maeso, began many years ago with the dear José Luis Gómez-Skarmeta. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
When you combine a brilliant scientist with strong grant support, the result is magic. This is exactly what the NEF project will deliver, nothing less!
Arnone Lab@arnonelab.bsky.social · 7mo agoI am deeply honored to share that my project NeurEvoFun has been awarded support from the Fondo Italiano per la Scienza (FIS), the Advanced Grant by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, supporting fundamental research inspired by the ERC model. Excited for what’s ahead!
First #MicroscopeMonday contribution! Early auricularia larva of Holothuria tubulosa (4 days post-fertilisation, dpf) shown in brightfield (left) and with DAPI-stained nuclei (right, blue). Same larva. Same view. Bonus: this was also my first DAPI stain, imaged on an inverted microscope.
Researchers discover an "all-body brain" in sea urchins - @mfnberlin.bsky.social www.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin/en/museum/me...
Researchers discover an “all-body brain” in sea urchins
An international team of researchers, including scientists from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, has uncovered a surprisingly complex nervous system in sea urchins. The animals appear to possess an “...
museumfuernaturkunde.berlin
Our study, just published in #ScienceAdvances and funded by @hfspo.bsky.social, explores the post metamorphic cell composition of the sea urchin juvenile, revealing that its body is head-like. Long considered brainless creatures, they’re all brain instead! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Single-nucleus profiling highlights the all-brain echinoderm nervous system
A sea urchin is a head with a brain-like organization and a vertebrate-type retinal signature.
science.org
I am beyond excited to share that my postdoc project @szndohrn.bsky.social and the @arnonelab.bsky.social is now available in #ScienceAdvances @science.org. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Thrilled to share my newest perspective article with @arnonelab.bsky.social in @dev-journal.bsky.social journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
In preprints: cell type-specific gene regulation through the lens of echinoderms
One of the most intriguing questions in developmental biology is how a single cell, the zygote, gives rise to hundreds or millions of distinct cell types during embryogenesis. Decades of research have...
journals.biologists.com