Brachiopod and mollusc biomineralisation is a conserved process that was lost in the phoronid-bryozoan stem lineage.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Brachiopods and molluscs are lophotrochozoans with hard external shells which are often believed to have evolved convergently. While palaeontological data indicate that both groups are descended from biomineralising Cambrian ancestors, the closest relatives of brachiopods, phoronids and bryozoans, are mineralised to a much lower extent and are comparatively poorly represented in the Palaeozoic fossil record. Although brachiopod and mollusc shells are structurally analogous, genomic and proteomic evidence indicates that their formation involves a complement of conserved, orthologous genes. Here, we study a set of genes comprised of 3 homeodomain transcription factors, one signalling molecule and 6 structural proteins which are implicated in mollusc and brachiopod shell fo

SUBMITTER: Wernstrom JV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9484238 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature