Contrasting the development of larval and adult body plans during the evolution of biphasic lifecycles in sea urchins.

ABSTRACT: Biphasic lifecycles are widespread among animals, but little is known about how the developmental transition between larvae and adults is regulated. Sea urchins are a unique system for studying this phenomenon because of the stark differences between their bilateral larval and pentaradial adult body plans. Here, we use single-cell RNA sequencing to analyze the development of Heliocidaris erythrogramma (He), a sea urchin species with an accelerated, non-feeding mode of larval development. The sequencing time course extends from embryogenesis to roughly a day before the onset of metamorphosis in He larvae, which is a period that has not been covered by previous datasets. We find that the non-feeding developmental strategy of He is associated with several changes in the specification of larva

SUBMITTER: McDonald BD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11529275 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature