Evolutionary biology: The amphioxus unleashed

@article{Gee2008EvolutionaryBT,
  title={Evolutionary biology: The amphioxus unleashed},
  author={Henry Gee},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2008},
  volume={453},
  pages={999-1000}
}
  • H. Gee
  • Published 19 June 2008
  • Biology
  • Nature
The genome sequence of a species of amphioxus, an iconic organism in the history of evolutionary biology, opens up a fresh vista on the comparative investigation of chordates and vertebrates. 
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12 Citations
Background Citations
5

12 Citations

"Insights of early chordate genomics: endocrinology and development in amphioxus, tunicates and lampreys": introduction to the symposium.
TLDR
This symposium focused on the evolution of chordate genomes, in particular, those events that occurred before the appearance of jawed vertebrates, and brought together researchers whose recent work on these organisms spans the gap from genomics to the development of body forms and functions.
The cult of amphioxus in German Darwinism; or, Our gelatinous ancestors in Naples’ blue and balmy bay
  • N. Hopwood
  • History
    History and philosophy of the life sciences
  • 2015
TLDR
A richer account of the public appeal of amphioxus as a primitive ancestor is offered, focusing on how the ‘German Darwin’ Ernst Haeckel persuaded general magazine and newspaper readers to revere this “flesh of the authors' flesh and blood of their blood”.
New frontiers in the evolution of fin development.
TLDR
New perspectives on the transition from midline to paired appendages focus on origin and molecular regionalization of the lateral plate mesoderm and novel ectodermic competency zones for fin induction, and recent work exploring how tetrapod limbs evolved from fish fins is reviewed.
Ptc, Smo, Sufu, and the Hedgehog signaling pathway in amphioxus
TLDR
The data show that the expression patterns of these three genes are overlapping with Hh and Gli during the embryonic development in amphioxus, suggesting that amphioxUS may possess a conserved and functional Hh signaling pathway similar to that of vertebrates.
Deep Homology?: Uncanny Similarities of Humans and Flies Uncovered by Evo-Devo
Deep Homology?: Uncanny Similarities of Humans and Flies Uncovered by Evo-Devo is Lewis Held's final act in a threepart series discussing developmental evolution. Part one of the series−Quirks of…
Non-random decay of chordate characters causes bias in fossil interpretation
TLDR
It is shown, from experimental decay of amphioxus and ammocoetes, that loss of chordate characters during decay is non-random: the more phylogenetically informative are the most labile, whereas plesiomorphic characters are decay resistant.
Evolution of oxytocin pathways in the brain of vertebrates
TLDR
The present review draws attention to the non-synaptic axonal release in small and defined brain regions with the aim to clearly distinguish this way of oxytocin action from the classical synaptic transmission on one side and from dendritic release followed by a global diffusion on the other side.
Suppression substractive hybridisation (SSH) and real time PCR reveal differential gene expression in the Pacific cupped oyster, Crassostrea gigas, challenged with Ostreid herpesvirus 1.
The Nuanced Interplay of Intrinsic Disorder and Other Structural Properties Driving Protein Evolution.
TLDR
The results somewhat corroborate earlier findings that intrinsically disordered sites tend to be more variable than ordered sites, but there is considerable overlap among their rate distributions, and a significant confounding interaction exists between intrinsic disorder and secondary structure.
Essential Principles for Autonomous Robotics
  • H. Hexmoor
  • Art
    Essential Principles for Autonomous Robotics
  • 2013
TLDR
This book is a snapshot of motivations and methodologies for the authors' collective attempts to transform their lives and enable us to cohabit with robots that work with and for us to demystify the abilities and limitations of robots.
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