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Article
Open AccessComparing dormancy in two distantly related tunicates reveals morphological, molecular, and ecological convergences and repeated co-option
Many asexually-propagating marine invertebrates can survive extreme environmental conditions by develo** dormant structures, i.e., morphologically simplified bodies that retain the capacity to completely reg...
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Protocol
The Hazards of Regeneration: From Morgan’s Legacy to Evo-Devo
In his prominent book Regeneration (1901), T.H. Morgan’s collected and synthesized theoretical and experimental findings from a diverse array of regenerating animals and plants. Through his endeavor, he introduce...
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Article
Open AccessNovel budding mode in Polyandrocarpa zorritensis: a model for comparative studies on asexual development and whole body regeneration
In tunicates, the capacity to build an adult body via non-embryonic development (NED), i.e., asexual budding and whole body regeneration, has been gained or lost several times across the whole subphylum. A rec...
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Article
Open AccessConserved expression of vertebrate microvillar gene homologs in choanocytes of freshwater sponges
The microvillus is a versatile organelle that serves important functions in disparate animal cell types. However, from a molecular perspective, the microvillus has been well studied in only a few, predominantl...
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Article
Open AccessDifferences in chemosensory response between eyed and eyeless Astyanax mexicanus of the Rio Subterráneo cave
In blind cave-dwelling populations of Astyanax mexicanus, several morphological and behavioral shifts occurred during evolution in caves characterized by total and permanent darkness. Previous studies have shown ...
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Article
Open AccessIndependent specialisation of myosin II paralogues in muscle vs. non-muscle functions during early animal evolution: a ctenophore perspective
Myosin II (or Myosin Heavy Chain II, MHCII) is a family of molecular motors involved in the contractile activity of animal muscle cells but also in various other cellular processes in non-muscle cells. Previou...
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Article
Open AccessThe backbone of the post-synaptic density originated in a unicellular ancestor of choanoflagellates and metazoans
Comparative genomics of the early diverging metazoan lineages and of their unicellular sister-groups opens new window to reconstructing the genetic changes which preceded or accompanied the evolution of multic...
