Conserved Patterns in Developmental Processes and Phases, Rather than Genes, Unite the Highly Divergent Bilateria.

ABSTRACT: Bilateria are the predominant clade of animals on Earth. Despite having evolved a wide variety of body plans and developmental modes, they are characterized by common morphological traits. By default, researchers have tried to link clade-specific genes to these traits, thus distinguishing bilaterians from non-bilaterians, by their gene content. Here we argue that it is rather biological processes that unite Bilateria and set them apart from their non-bilaterian sisters, with a less complex body morphology. To test this hypothesis, we compared proteomes of bilaterian and non-bilaterian species in an elaborate computational pipeline, aiming to search for a set of bilaterian-specific genes. Despite the limited confidence in their bilaterian specificity, we nevertheless detected Bilateria-spec

SUBMITTER: Ferretti L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7555945 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature