JACOBS, David/K*; BEBENEK, Ilona/G; GATES, Ruth/D; LEE, Shannon/E; UCLA: Recovery of sine oculis in cnidarians and sponges: Evidence for antecedents of bilaterian sensory systems Homeodomain gene family members involved in sensory and neural differentiation form basal branches of homeodomain gene trees leading to the prediction that these genes evolved early and should be found in […]

HOLSTEIN, TW; University of Darmstadt: Origins of axial patterning The molecular nature of signaling centers (organizers) plays a pivotal role in the origin and evolution of metazoan body axes. At present it is unclear, which signaling cascades actually constitute the basal regulatory network required for a robust patterning of the metazoan body axes. We have […]

STEELE, R.E.; University of California, Irvine: Genomics of Basal Metazoans A complete understanding of the biology of animals will require the generation of genomics resources from organisms at all levels of the metazoan phylogenetic tree. Such resources would ideally include complete genome sequences and extensive EST datasets for each species of interest. Of particular interest […]

CADAVID, Luis F.; POWELL, Anahid; NICOTRA, Matthew; MORENO, Maria; BUSS, Leo; University of New Mexico; University of California, Irvine; Yale University; Yale University; Yale University: Genetics of Allorecognition in the Hydroyd Hydractinia Most sessile colonial invertebrates have the ability to distinguish between their own tissues and those of unrelated members of the same species. Isogenic […]

MARTIN, V.J.; Appalachian State University, North Carolina: Eye Designs in Basal Metazoans Cnidarians exhibit a diversity of eye designs: simple eyespots, pigment cups, complex pigment cups with lenses, and camera-type eyes with a cornea, lens, and retina of ciliated photoreceptors. The complex eyes of cubomedusae are optically competent and represent the most highly evolved eyes […]

MARTINDALE, Mark Q; University of Hawai’i: Ctenophores: missing links or missing the boat? Evolutionary developmental biologists have bemoaned the fact that there do not appear to be any �intermediate� phyla to help understand major transitions in animal body form. Virtually all evidence points to the fact that existing animal phyla originated over 500 million years […]

GELLER, Jonathan B.; Moss Landing Marine Laboratories: Clonality and fission in sea anemones: regulation of gene expression underlies transitions in life history. Clonal growth is widespread in Cnidaria and solitary species are a minority. The prevalence of clonality stands in contrast with the variety of the means by which diverse clonal growth patterns are achieved. […]

BODE, H; STEELE, R; BLUMBERG, B; PANG, J; GEE, L; WIGGE, P; CLIFTON, S; PAPE, D; Univ. of California, Irvine; Univ. of California, Irvine; Univ. of California, Irvine; Univ. of California, Irvine; Univ. of California, Irvine; Salk Institute, San Diego; Washington Univ., St. Louis; Washington Univ., St. Louis: A Hydra EST project Knowledge of the […]

SCHIERWATER, B; JAKOB, W; SAGASSER, S; DELLAPORTA, S; TiHo Hannover; TiHo Hannover; TiHo Hannover; Yale University: Trichoplax adhaerens and B�tschlis� �urmetazoan� model system A more than a century old debate has been focusing on the origin of the Metazoa and the hypothetical �urmetazoan� bauplan. A basal position for the morphologically most simply organized metazoan animal, […]

FURLA, P.*; SHICK, J.M.; ALLEMAND, D.; ZOCCOLA, D.; Univ. of Nice, France; Univ. of Maine, Orono; Univ. of Nice, France; Centre Scientifique de Monaco: The symbiotic cnidarian: a physiological chimera of alga and animal Cnidarians (corals and sea anemones) harboring photosynthetic algae (dinoflagellates and chlorophytes) derive several benefits from the association. Nevertheless, phototrophic symbiosis imposes […]