biostudies-literatureUnknownMassri AJNICHD NIH HHSAltered regulatory interactions during development likely underlie a large fraction of phenotypic diversity within and between species, yet identifying specific evolutionary changes remains challenging. Analysis of single-cell developmental transcriptomes from multiple species provides a powerful framework for unbiased identification of evolutionary changes in developmental mechanisms. Here, we leverage a "natural experiment" in developmental evolution in sea urchins, where a major life history switch recently evolved in the lineage leading to <i>Heliocidaris erythrogramma</i>, precipitating extensive changes in early development. Comparative analyses of scRNA-seq developmental time courses from <i>H. erythrogramma</i> and <i>Lytechinus variegatus</i> (representing the derived and ancestrabioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2024.04.30.591752https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11092583biostudies-literatureSingle-cell transcriptomics reveals evolutionary reconfiguration of embryonic cell fate specification in the sea urchin <i>Heliocidaris erythrogramma</i>.PMC11092583R01 HD014483T32 HD040372Byrne MMcClay DRWray GAPipho KAfanassiev AMassri AJBerrio AGreenstreet LSchiebinger GfalseSingle-cell transcriptomics reveals evolutionary reconfiguration of embryonic cell fate specification in the sea urchin <i>Heliocidaris erythrogramma</i>.Altered regulatory interactions during development likely underlie a large fraction of phenotypic diversity within and between species, yet identifying specific evolutionary changes remains challenging. Analysis of single-cell developmental transcriptomes from multiple species provides a powerful framework for unbiased identification of evolutionary changes in developmental mechanisms. Here, we leverage a "natural experiment" in developmental evolution in sea urchins, where a major life history switch recently evolved in the lineage leading to <i>Heliocidaris erythrogramma</i>, precipitating extensive changes in early development. Comparative analyses of scRNA-seq developmental time courses from <i>H. erythrogramma</i> and <i>Lytechinus variegatus</i> (representing the derived and ancestra2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 May2025-08-12T03:04:48.268Z2025-08-12T03:04:48.268ZS-EPMC110925833874637610.1101/2024.04.30.591752