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Article
Open AccessWhat lies beneath: Hydra provides cnidarian perspectives into the evolution of FGFR docking proteins
Across the Bilateria, FGF/FGFR signaling is critical for normal development, and in both Drosophila and vertebrates, docking proteins are required to connect activated FGFRs with downstream pathways. While verteb...
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Article
Open AccessTranscriptomic analysis reveals protein homeostasis breakdown in the coral Acropora millepora during hypo-saline stress
Coral reefs can experience salinity fluctuations due to rainfall and runoff; these events can have major impacts on the corals and lead to bleaching and mortality. On the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), low salinity...
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Article
Open AccessComparative genomics reveals the distinct evolutionary trajectories of the robust and complex coral lineages
Despite the biological and economic significance of scleractinian reef-building corals, the lack of large molecular datasets for a representative range of species limits understanding of many aspects of their ...
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Article
Open AccessTranscriptomic analysis of the response of Acropora millepora to hypo-osmotic stress provides insights into DMSP biosynthesis by corals
Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is a small sulphur compound which is produced in prodigious amounts in the oceans and plays a pivotal role in the marine sulfur cycle. Until recently, DMSP was believed to be ...
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Article
Open AccessA comparative view of early development in the corals Favia lizardensis, Ctenactis echinata, and Acropora millepora - morphology, transcriptome, and developmental gene expression
Research into various aspects of coral biology has greatly increased in recent years due to anthropogenic threats to coral health including pollution, ocean warming and acidification. However, knowledge of cor...
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Article
Open AccessFunctional conservation of the apoptotic machinery from coral to man: the diverse and complex Bcl-2 and caspase repertoires of Acropora millepora
Apoptotic cell death is a defining and ubiquitous characteristic of metazoans, but its evolutionary origins are unclear. Although Caenorhabditis and Drosophila played key roles in establishing the molecular bases...
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Article
Open AccessThe acute transcriptional response of the coral Acropora millepora to immune challenge: expression of GiMAP/IAN genes links the innate immune responses of corals with those of mammals and plants
As a step towards understanding coral immunity we present the first whole transcriptome analysis of the acute responses of Acropora millepora to challenge with the bacterial cell wall derivative MDP and the viral...
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Article
Open AccessDifferential expression of three galaxin-related genes during settlement and metamorphosis in the scleractinian coral Acropora millepora
The coral skeleton consists of CaCO3 deposited upon an organic matrix primarily as aragonite. Currently galaxin, from Galaxea fascicularis, is the only soluble protein component of the organic matrix that has bee...
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Article
Open AccessMicroarray analysis identifies candidate genes for key roles in coral development
Anthozoan cnidarians are amongst the simplest animals at the tissue level of organization, but are surprisingly complex and vertebrate-like in terms of gene repertoire. As major components of tropical reef eco...
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Article
Open AccessSox genes in the coral Acropora millepora: divergent expression patterns reflect differences in developmental mechanisms within the Anthozoa
Sox genes encode transcription factors that function in a wide range of developmental processes across the animal kingdom. To better understand both the evolution of the Sox family and the roles of these genes...
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Article
Open AccessUnexpected diversity of cnidarian integrins: expression during coral gastrulation
Adhesion mediated through the integrin family of cell surface receptors is central to early development throughout the Metazoa, playing key roles in cell-extra cellular matrix adhesion and modulation of cadher...
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Article
Open AccessThe innate immune repertoire in Cnidaria - ancestral complexity and stochastic gene loss
Characterization of the innate immune repertoire of extant cnidarians is of both fundamental and applied interest - it not only provides insights into the basic immunological 'tool kit' of the common ancestor ...
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Article
Tandem organization of independently duplicated homeobox genes in the basal cnidarian Acropora millepora
A number of examples of independently duplicated regulatory genes have been identified in cnidarians, but the extent of this phenomenon and organization of these duplicated genes are unknown. Here we describe ...
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Article
A simple plan — cnidarians and the origins of developmental mechanisms
Cnidarians lack true mesoderm, in the sense of a third germ layer that arises as a direct result of gastrulation. However, at the molecular level, muscle devel...
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Article
snail expression during embryonic development of the coral Acropora: blurring the diploblast/triploblast divide?
Although corals are nominally diploblastic, the early development of Acropora millepora involves a process that clearly resembles gastrulation in higher metazoans. This similarity at the morphological level led u...
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Article
Gene structure and larval expression of cnox-2Am from the coral Acropora millepora
We have cloned a Hox-like gene, cnox-2Am, from a staghorn coral, Acropora millepora, an anthozoan cnidarian, and characterised its embryonic and larval expression. cnox-2Am and its orthologs in other cnidarians ...
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Article
Conservation of the sequence and temporal expression of let-7 heterochronic regulatory RNA
Two small RNAs regulate the timing of Caenorhabditis elegans development1,2. Transition from the first to the second larval stage fates requires the 22-nucleotide lin-4 RNA1,3,4, and transition from late larval t...
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Article
The sequence of Locusta RXR, homologous to Drosophila Ultraspiracle, and its evolutionary implications
The cellular response to steroid hormones is mediated by nuclear receptors which act by regulating transcription. In Drosophila melanogaster, the receptor for the insect molting hormone, 20-hydroxyecdysone, is a ...
