Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Lisandra Benitez-Alvarez, Laia Leria, Rosa Fernandez, Eduardo Mateos, Younes El Ouanighi, Nard Bennas, Majida El Alami, Mohamed Yacoubi-Khebiza, Houssam Ayt Ougougdal, Marta Riutort
Summary: Using large data sets obtained from transcriptomic data, we investigated the evolutionary history of the genus Dugesia in the Mediterranean region. The results showed that the region's paleogeological history played a significant role in the diversification of the genus. Multiple biogeographic clades were identified, and their internal relationships were analyzed. This study provides insights into the evolution of Dugesia and marks the beginning of the genomic era in phylogenetic studies on Tricladida.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Ana Laura Almeida, Tiago Mauricio Francoy, Marta Alvarez-Presas, Fernando Carbayo
Summary: The monotypic genus of land planarians Timyma is suggested to be a relict reflecting a pre-Tertiary connection between South America and Australia and New Zealand, with unique morphological characteristics. Research indicates that Timyma is more closely related to the Neotropical Geoplaninae subfamily and distantly related to the Bipaliinae subfamily in terms of phylogenetic relationships.
Article
Ecology
Miquel Vila-Farre, Andrei Rozanski, Mario Ivankovic, James Cleland, Jeremias N. Brand, Felix Thalen, Markus A. Grohme, Stephanie von Kannen, Alexandra L. Grosbusch, Hanh T. -K. Vu, Carlos E. Prieto, Fernando Carbayo, Bernhard Egger, Christoph Bleidorn, John E. J. Rasko, Jochen C. Rink
Summary: Regenerative abilities vary greatly among planarian species, with some capable of complete regeneration while others are hardly able to regenerate at all. Through experiments and transcriptome-based phylogeny reconstruction, this study reveals multiple independent transitions from robust whole-body regeneration to restricted regeneration in freshwater species. RNA-mediated genetic interference experiments suggest that the Wnt pathway is associated with the emergence of regenerative defects. The study also finds multiple roles of Wnt signalling in the reproductive system of the model species Schmidtea mediterranea, indicating a potential trade-off between egg-laying, asexual reproduction, and Wnt signalling in driving the evolution of regenerative traits.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jean-Lou Justine, Romain Gastineau, Pierre Gros, Delphine Gey, Enrico Ruzzier, Laurent Charles, Leigh Winsor
Summary: This study describes and classifies alien land planarians, including the discovery of two new species, using next generation sequencing. The results demonstrate the power of next generation sequencing in studying asexually reproducing invasive species and reveal new insights into the phylogenetic position of certain species.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Emiliano Mori, Giulia Magoga, Marta Panella, Matteo Montagna, Leigh Winsor, Jean-Lou Justine, Mattia Menchetti, Enrico Schifani, Beatrice Melone, Giuseppe Mazza
Summary: The distribution of alien land planarians in Italy was updated using citizen science and molecular methods, with most records coming from private gardens, observed more frequently in spring and early autumn, and seemingly increasing with rainfall. Citizen-science platforms proved to be effective tools for the early detection of these alien pest species, significantly expanding the known distribution area in Italy.
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2022)
Article
Zoology
Inigo Vicente-Hernandez, Werner Armonies, Katharina Henze, M. Teresa Aguado
Summary: This study used 18S and 28S DNA markers to analyze 91 species through Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference methodologies. The results confirmed that Mariplanellida is an independent group within Rhabdocoela and identified the status of Lonchoplanella axi and Toia. Further research is needed to clarify the phylogenetic relationships of Hoploplanella.
Article
Parasitology
I Gordeev, N. Biserova, K. Zhukova, I Ekimova
Summary: A parasitic 'turbellarian' from the giant Antarctic octopus, Megaleledone setebos, is reported in this paper. It is identified as a new species Octopoxenus antarcticus from the family Fecampiida.
JOURNAL OF HELMINTHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Zoology
Jeremias N. Brand
Summary: Recent research has found a monophyletic clade of Macrostomum flatworms in the African Great Lakes region, and it is suggested that they have radiated in Lake Tanganyika and spread to Lake Malawi. However, whether this represents a bona fide adaptive radiation is still uncertain.
FRONTIERS IN ZOOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
David Blair, Lester R. G. Cannon, D. Timothy J. Littlewood, Peter D. Olson, Kim B. Sewell
Summary: This article examines the systematic implications of a group of flatworms that are ectosymbiotic on freshwater crustaceans. A molecular phylogeny based on partial sequences of nuclear ribosomal RNA genes is used. The study reveals the early diverging groups within the family and proposes a new subfamily. It also highlights the underappreciated diversity of temnocephalids in Australia and Asia.
SYSTEMATICS AND BIODIVERSITY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
George R. Wendt, Divya A. Shiroor, Carolyn E. Adler, James J. Collins
Summary: P53 is a tumor suppressor that plays important roles in cell-cycle regulation, cell death, and DNA damage repair. It is found in various animals, including invertebrates. The study focused on flatworms and found that one P53 homolog is involved in stem cell maintenance and skin production, while another paralog is required for the response to genotoxic stress in parasitic flatworms.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Medicinal
Justin M. McNab, Jorge Rodriguez, Peter Karuso, Jane E. Williamson
Summary: Marine invertebrates, such as flatworms of the order Polycladida, have potential as sources of novel bioactive secondary metabolites, with recent studies isolating neurotoxins from these mesopredators. However, limited research has been conducted on these animals, and further study is recommended due to their aposematic coloration and prey preferences.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Lisandro Negrete, Marta Alvarez-Presas, Marta Riutort, Francisco Brusa
Summary: This study focused on the diversity of land planarians in the Andean-Patagonian Forests, unveiling new material and offering detailed re-descriptions of two species, which were classified into new genera. The research expanded the known distribution of these planarian species to include the Argentinean portion of the Andean-Patagonian Forests.
JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGICAL SYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTIONARY RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nan Chiang, Xavier de la Rosa, Stephania Libreros, Hui Pan, Jonathan M. Dreyfuss, Charles N. Serhan
Summary: The study found that cysteinyl-specialized proresolving mediators activate key pathways in planaria regeneration, linking inflammation resolution and regeneration. The results demonstrate a crucial role for TRAF3/IL-10 in regulating mammalian phagocyte functions.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Zoology
Giacinta Angela Stocchino, Daniel Dols-Serrate, Ronald Sluys, Marta Riutort, Carlo Onnis, Renata Manconi
Summary: In this study, a new taxon of cave-dwelling flatworms from Sardinia, Italy is described, including its phylogenetic position, anatomical features, and ecology. The new species, named Amphibioplana onnisi, exhibits unique morphological characteristics and an amphibious lifestyle in groundwater microcrevices and cave pools. The molecular analysis reveals its relationship with other flatworm families, suggesting a novel evolutionary scenario and distribution pattern in Sardinian caves.
ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Shauni E. T. Omond, Matthew W. Hale, John A. Lesku
Summary: This study investigated the effects of neurotransmitters on sleep and wakefulness in flatworms. The results showed that dopamine and histamine promote wakefulness, while pyrilamine and GABA promote restfulness. Acetylcholine, glutamate, serotonin, and adenosine had no apparent effect on flatworm behavior.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jules Duruz, Cyrielle Kaltenrieder, Peter Ladurner, Remy Bruggmann, Pedro Martinez, Simon G. Sprecher
Summary: By utilizing whole-body single-cell transcriptomics on the acoel Isodiametra pulchra, researchers identified ten major cell type categories contributing to main biological functions, as well as a large number of clade-specific marker genes, indicating the emergence of clade-specific common molecular machineries functioning in distinct cell types. These results offer novel insights into the evolution of bilaterian cell types.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jelena Rajkov, Athimed El Taher, Astrid Boehne, Walter Salzburger, Bernd Egger
Summary: The study on lake-river population pairs of Astatotilapia burtoni revealed differences in parasite abundance, immune response and gene expression patterns, with lake fish being more heavily parasitized and having higher immune response. Environmental differences and distinct parasite communities between lake and river habitats shaped differential gene expression, mostly as a plastic response. Overall, the findings suggest shifts in gene expression and bacterial communities underlying adaptive phenotypic plasticity in response to habitat differences and parasite exposure.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Fabrizia Ronco, Michael Matschiner, Astrid Boehne, Anna Boila, Heinz H. Buescher, Athimed El Taher, Adrian Indermaur, Milan Malinsky, Virginie Ricci, Ansgar Kahmen, Sissel Jentoft, Walter Salzburger
Summary: This text provides a detailed examination of the adaptive radiation of cichlid fishes in Lake Tanganyika, demonstrating empirical support for two theoretical predictions of how adaptive radiations proceed and revealing a positive correlation between species richness and per-individual heterozygosity. The study highlights the rapid morphological diversification through trait-specific pulses of accelerated evolution within the confines of the lake.
Article
Ecology
Athimed El Taher, Astrid Boehne, Nicolas Boileau, Fabrizia Ronco, Adrian Indermaur, Lukas Widmer, Walter Salzburger
Summary: The study focused on the evolution of gene expression in cichlid fishes from Lake Tanganyika, revealing variations in the rate of gene expression evolution among different organs, transcriptome parts, and subclades of the radiation. The study also found that noncoding parts of the transcriptome evolved more rapidly than coding parts, and that gonadal transcriptomes evolved faster than somatic ones. The rate of gene expression change was not constant and accelerated in the later phase of the radiation, with per-gene level evolution patterns dominated by stabilizing selection.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biology
Peter A. Davey, Anne Marie Power, Romana Santos, Philip Bertemes, Peter Ladurner, Pawel Palmowski, Jessica Clarke, Patrick Flammang, Birgit Lengerer, Elise Hennebert, Ute Rothbacher, Robert Pjeta, Julia Wunderer, Michal Zurovec, Nick Aldred
Summary: Many aquatic invertebrates use biological adhesives to attach themselves to surfaces, and omics technologies have revolutionized the study of bioadhesion. However, challenges remain and priorities for future research have been suggested.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Zoology
Fabrizia Ronco, Walter Salzburger
Summary: Adaptive radiation is a major source of biodiversity. Recent integrative examination of the cichlid adaptive radiation in African Lake Tanganyika provided new insights into the process of explosive diversification. The study revealed that the evolution occurred in a non-gradual manner, with time-shifted bursts of accelerated evolution.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Philip Bertemes, Robert Pjeta, Julia Wunderer, Alexandra L. Grosbusch, Birgit Lengerer, Kevin Gruener, Magdalena Knapp, Birte Mertens, Nikolas Andresen, Michael W. Hess, Sara Tomaiuolo, Armin Zankel, Patrik Holzer, Willi Salvenmoser, Bernhard Egger, Peter Ladurner
Summary: The study revealed that there are almost no differences in morphology, protein regions, and gene expression among different Macrostomum species inhabiting marine, brackish, and freshwater environments, indicating conservation of glue components produced by macrostomids.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alexandra A-T Weber, Jelena Rajkov, Kolja Smailus, Bernd Egger, Walter Salzburger
Summary: Understanding the dynamics of speciation is a central topic in evolutionary biology. In this study, researchers investigated morphological and genomic differentiation in African cichlid fish and found that genomic differentiation increased in the presence of divergent selection and drift. They also discovered parallel and antiparallel components in rapid adaptive divergence, and higher parallelism when ancestral populations were more similar. This research highlights the complementary roles of divergent selection and drift in speciation and parallel evolution.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Fabrizia Ronco, Walter Salzburger
Summary: Evolutionary innovations, such as the elaborate pharyngeal jaw apparatus of cichlid fishes, can promote diversification by allowing lineages to exploit new niches. The study on cichlid fishes in African Lake Tanganyika found that the oral and lower pharyngeal jaws evolved largely independently, contributing to micro-niche partitioning and increasing trophic diversity.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Virginie Ricci, Fabrizia Ronco, Zuzana Musilova, Walter Salzburger
Summary: This study examined the diversity and sequence evolution of RH1 in the adaptive radiation of cichlid fishes in Lake Tanganyika, focusing on adaptations to the environmental light with respect to depth. The findings show that Tanganyikan cichlid genomes contain a single copy of RH1 and have several variable sites that may be functionally important in terms of depth-related adaptations. The study provides new insights into the evolution of RH1 in a freshwater environment.
Article
Fisheries
Marcos A. da Silva, Felipe P. Ottoni, Jose L. O. Mattos, Adrian Indermaur, Axel M. Katz, Walter Salzburger
Summary: Cichlid fishes are important in evolutionary biology due to their exceptional diversity. This study reports a new distribution record of Australoheros in the upper Paranaiba River drainage and identifies it as Australoheros barbosae species. The research also confirms the monophyly of the A. autrani species group and provides evidence for the recent expansion of A. barbosae.
ICHTHYOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Fisheries
Frederic D. B. Schedel, Zuzana Musilova, Adrian Indermaur, Arnold Roger Bitja-Nyom, Walter Salzburger, Ulrich K. Schliewen
Summary: This study provides the first molecular evidence for the phylogenetic position of the small cyprinid genus Prolabeops from Cameroon, revealing its close relationship with African Smiliogastrinae. The results also highlight the need for a taxonomic revision of the small African barbs in the genus Enteromius.
JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Nicolas Lichilin, Walter Salzburger, Astrid Boehne
Summary: Research shows that the sex determination system can vary between populations of the same fish species. A study on Astatotilapia burtoni, a fish species found in Lake Tanganyika, revealed that there are different sex determination systems in natural populations compared to laboratory strains. The analysis of the species' genomes did not detect differentiated sex chromosomes, suggesting that the sex determination system in A. burtoni is more flexible and may involve non-genetic or poorly differentiated sex chromosomes.
G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Moritz Muschick, Eliane Jemmi, Nicholas Lengacher, Stephanie Hansch, Nathan Wales, Mary A. Kishe, Salome Mwaiko, Jorunn Dieleman, Mark Alexander Lever, Walter Salzburger, Dirk Verschuren, Ole Seehausen
Summary: Tropical freshwater lakes are well-known for their biodiversity, and the East African Great Lakes in particular are famous for their cichlid fishes. This study demonstrates, for the first time, that fish fossils from tropical lake sediments contain endogenous ancient DNA (aDNA), providing valuable information on the evolutionary trajectories and diversity of these fish taxa. The preservation and success rates of aDNA differ between investigated lakes, possibly due to differences in oxygenation.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Virginie Ricci, Fabrizia Ronco, Nicolas Boileau, Walter Salzburger
Summary: Through studying the retinal transcriptomes of cichlid fishes from Lake Tanganyika, we found that adaptive changes in gene expression at the macro-evolutionary and ecosystem level primarily occur through variation in the expression of a subset of cone opsin genes.
Review
Developmental Biology
Cheng Shi, Pengfei Jiao, Zhiyi Chen, Lan Ma, Siyue Yao
Summary: This review discusses the molecular etiology of congenital craniofacial abnormalities, with a focus on the role and mechanism of noncoding RNAs in regulating craniofacial development. Aberrant expression of noncoding RNAs has been implicated in the pathogenesis of craniofacial abnormalities, providing potential therapeutic targets.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Developmental Biology
Hideru Togashi, Steven Ray Davis, Makoto Sato
Summary: Tile patterns, regulated by cell adhesion molecules, are regular arrangements of cells that play important functional roles in multicellular organisms. The physical constraints and cell adhesion regulate both cell shape and tissue morphogenesis.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Developmental Biology
Armen Khanbabei, Lina Segura, Cynthia Petrossian, Aaron Lemus, Ithan Cano, Courtney Frazier, Armen Halajyan, Donnie Ca, Mariano Loza-Coll
Summary: This article investigates the genetic regulatory mechanisms of Drosophila intestinal stem cells. The study found that most target genes co-regulated by Esg and STAT show a consistent gene expression pattern. However, manipulating these validated targets in vivo rarely replicated the effects of manipulating Esg and STAT, suggesting the presence of complex genetic interactions among the downstream targets of these two master regulator genes.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Developmental Biology
Bayley J. Waters, Zoe R. Birman, Matthew R. Wagner, Julia Lemanski, Barak Blum
Summary: Researchers found that conditional deletion of Robo2 in adult mice led to a significant loss of islet architecture without affecting beta cell identity or function, suggesting that Robo2 plays a role in actively maintaining adult islet architecture. Understanding the factors required for islet architecture maintenance is crucial for developing future diabetes therapies.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Developmental Biology
Rhiannon Clements, Tyler Smith, Luke Cowart, Jennifer Zhumi, Alan Sherrod, Aidan Cahill, Ginger L. Hunter
Summary: Cell protrusions play a crucial role in regulating cell activities during development. By studying the regulation mechanism in fruit fly sensory bristle patterning, it was found that Myosin XV is essential for the dynamics of signaling filopodia and promotes long-range Notch signaling.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Developmental Biology
Margaret Keating, Ryan Hagle, Daniel Osorio-Mendez, Anjelica Rodriguez-Parks, Sarah I. Almutawa, Junsu Kang
Summary: Knock-in reporter (KI) animals are essential for studying gene expression in biomedical research. This study developed a new strategy using minicircle technology and a minimal promoter to enhance knock-in events and establish stable KI transgenic reporter lines. The study also highlighted the importance of selecting the proper KI line due to potential inappropriate influence of genome editing on reporter gene expression.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Developmental Biology
Christian Altbuerger, Meta Rath, Daniel Armbruster, Wolfgang Driever
Summary: This study reveals that Neurog1 and Olig2 transcription factors have differential requirements for the development of dopaminergic neurons, and they integrate local patterning signals and Notch neurogenic selection signaling to specify the progenitor population and initiate neurogenesis and differentiation.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2024)