Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Laurent Formery @laurentformery.bsky.social · 27d

I am very happy to announce that the Echinox Lab will open in the BIOM unit at @obs-banyuls.fr in January 2026!! 🥳

We will use several echinoderm species to study animal body plan evolution.
🔽 Check our brand new lab website if you want to learn more about our future research
www.echinox.org

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Arnau Sebé-Pedrós @arnausebe.bsky.social · 14d

Happy to share the Biodiversity Cell Atlas white paper, out today in @nature.com. We look at the possibilities, challenges, and potential impacts of molecularly mapping cells across the tree of life.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Alex de Mendoza @alexdemendoza.bsky.social · 27d

Very happy to have contributed to this review on "non-CG" #methylation in animals now out in @natgenet.nature.com. Working again with @obog.bsky.social and Tirsa is always a pleasure. We think this not so well studied form of methylation should be more widely considered, please read: rdcu.be/eFAEk

Non-CG DNA methylation in animal genomes

Nature Genetics - This Review discusses noncanonical DNA methylation (mCH) in animal genomes and highlights the remaining need to clarify whether mCH represents a conserved regulatory layer or a...

rdcu.be

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Thibaut Brunet @thibautbrunet.bsky.social · 3d

Latest from ours: www.cell.com/cell-reports...

This is two stories in one: a case study/cautionary tale on developing genetic tools in new organisms, and the first hint at a gene regulatory network for choanoflagellate multicellular development (which turn out to involve a Hippo/YAP/ECM loop!) A 🧵

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Rosa Fernández @rosafernandez.bsky.social · 1d

How did animals repeatedly conquer land? 🌊➡️⛰️ We analysed ~1,000 gene repertoires (24M genes!) from all animal phyla to uncover how this happened. Work led by @gemmaeling.bsky.social & Klara Eleftheriadi, both first coauthors of this titanic effort!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Independent genomic trajectories shape adaptation to life on land across animal lineages

How animals repeatedly adapted to life on land is a central question in evolutionary biology. While terrestrialisation occurred independently across animal phyla, it remains unclear whether shared gen...

www.biorxiv.org

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Will Allen @wlallen.bsky.social · 12d

📢🦋 Our paper ‘Global selection on insect antipredator coloration’ is out and featured on the cover of @science.org

We ran a huge experiment to find out how ecological context favours camouflage and warning colouration as antipredator strategies. 1/6

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A white-fronted bee-eater (Merops bullockoides) decides whether to consume a warningly colored white-barred acraea butterfly (Telchinia encedon). Photo (c) Mike Rowe

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Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 21d

Why are some species widespread while others are found only in small, isolated areas? A study in Nature Communications shows that species with narrow ranges, and thus higher extinction risk, are often island-restricted, poor dispersers, and have evolved relatively recently. #evosky 🧪

Evolutionary age correlates with range size across plants and animals - Nature Communications

Why are some species widespread while others are found only in small, isolated areas? This study shows that species with narrow ranges, and thus higher extinction risk, are often island-restricted, poor dispersers, and have evolved relatively recently.

go.nature.com

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Thibaut Brunet @thibautbrunet.bsky.social · 28d

New short paper from our lab @currentbiology.bsky.social, in which we discover of a new mode of cell motility for choanoflagellates: flagellar gliding. www.cell.com/current-biol... - A 🧵

Flagellar gliding in choanoflagellates

Freire-Delgado and Brunet discover a new mode of cell motility in choanoflagellates, the closest relatives of animals. Under mild confinement, choanoflagellate move over surfaces without cell deformat...

www.cell.com

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Charlotte Wright @charlottewright.bsky.social · 27d

How many chromosomes can an animal have?

In our paper out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social we show that the Atlas blue butterfly has 229 chromosome pairs- the highest in diploid Metazoa! These arose by rapid autosome fragmentation while sex chromosomes stayed intact.
www.cell.com/current-biol...

Constraints on chromosome evolution revealed by the 229 chromosome pairs of the Atlas blue butterfly

The genome of the Atlas blue butterfly contains ten times more chromosomes than most butterflies, and more than any other known diploid animal. Wright et al. show that this extraordinary karyotype is ...

tinyurl.com

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Gert Wörheide @gwoerhe.bsky.social · 29d

🧪Discovery of calcarins in @elife.bsky.social, a protein family in the sponge Sycon ciliatum, clarifies spicule formation and suggests parallel evolution of carbonate biomineralization in sponges & corals—key for animals as ecosystem engineers of reefs.
@lmumuenchen.bsky.social
#molpalmuc

Genetic parallels in biomineralization of the calcareous sponge Sycon ciliatum and stony corals

Discovery of calcarins in calcareous sponges highlights gene duplication and neofunctionalization as drivers of parallel biomineralization, offering insight into the independent evolution of calcifica...

elifesciences.org

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Alex de Mendoza @alexdemendoza.bsky.social · Aug 19

Congrats! Such a needed message, this debate has gone very quickly from "probably no macrosyntenic conservation in animals", to "holy molly, sponges to amphixous are the same!", to "look, new rearrangements must be adaptive". Neat to see such a clear link with rate of molecular evolution.

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grahbudd.bsky.social @grahbudd.bsky.social · Aug 18

My dispatch on early echinoderms (www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...) is now out in @currentbiology.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Palaeontology: Straightening out early echinoderms

Fossil material of echinoderms from the Cambrian of Morocco suggests a novel reconstruction of early echinoderm evolution and ties in with recent adva…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Laurent Formery @laurentformery.bsky.social · Jun 26

My first steps into paleontology!! 😀
Big thanks to @imranrahman.bsky.social for having me on this cool project to look at some fascinating echinoderm fossils ⭐

Imran Rahman @imranrahman.bsky.social · Jun 26

Delighted to share our paper in @currentbiology.bsky.social iology.bsky.social‬ with a palaeo-evo-devo perspective on the evolution of symmetry in echinoderms. Led by Steffi Woodgate with Frankie Dunn, @echinerd.bsky.social, @laurentformery.bsky.social & Sam Zamora
www.cell.com/current-biol...-5

A new Cambrian stem-group echinoderm reveals the evolution of the anteroposterior axis

Woodgate et al. describe a new bilaterally symmetrical echinoderm, Atlascystis acantha, from the Cambrian of Morocco. Comparisons of plate growth with other echinoderms reveal that Atlascystis possess...

www.cell.com

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Yi-Jyun Luo @yjluo.bsky.social · Aug 18

Delighted to share the peer-reviewed version of our study led by @tomlewin.bsky.social now out in Genome Biology @bmc.springernature.com! We analyzed 64 chromosome-level genomes across 15 animal phyla and found that extensive genome rearrangements are the norm in bilaterians.
doi.org/10.1186/s130...

Conservation of bilaterian genome structure is the exception, not the rule - Genome Biology

Species from diverse animal lineages have conserved groups of orthologous genes together on the same chromosome for over half a billion years since the last common ancestor of bilaterians. Although no...

doi.org

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Yi-Jyun Luo @yjluo.bsky.social · Aug 18

Many thanks to the Darwin Tree of Life project for sharing the assemblies openly. Their efforts in providing high-quality genomes to the community have fueled numerous biological discoveries, particularly advancing our understanding of genome structure evolution.

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Yi-Jyun Luo @yjluo.bsky.social · Aug 18

Delighted to share the peer-reviewed version of our study led by @tomlewin.bsky.social now out in Genome Biology @bmc.springernature.com! We analyzed 64 chromosome-level genomes across 15 animal phyla and found that extensive genome rearrangements are the norm in bilaterians.
doi.org/10.1186/s130...

Conservation of bilaterian genome structure is the exception, not the rule - Genome Biology

Species from diverse animal lineages have conserved groups of orthologous genes together on the same chromosome for over half a billion years since the last common ancestor of bilaterians. Although no...

doi.org

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Alex de Mendoza @alexdemendoza.bsky.social · Aug 14

Chaetognaths have lost gene body methylation and shifted #5mC back to Transposable Elements. This reversion to the ancestral state is coupled with a simplification of DNMT3 architecture. We posit that trans-splicing might compensate.

It is an honour to have contributed to this 20y struggle ⛰️.

Ferdinand Marlétaz @ferdix.bsky.social · Aug 13

After nearly twenty years in the making, our attempt at understanding what makes the chaetognath phylum so unique has finally been published! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
with #LauraPiovani @dariagavr.bsky.social @alexdemendoza.bsky.social @chemamd.bsky.social and others /1

The genomic origin of the unique chaetognath body plan - Nature

Genomic, single-cell transcriptomic and epigenetic analyses show that chaetognaths, following extensive gene loss in the gnathiferan lineage, relied on newly evolved genes and lineage-specific tandem ...

www.nature.com

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Royal Society Publishing @royalsocietypublishing.org · Aug 4

#BiologyLetters A review of animal–chlorophyte photosymbioses explains how symbiosis drives adaptation and shapes animal life in diverse and dynamic environments. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #ecology #evolution #developmentalbiology

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Nature @nature.com · Aug 13

A genome sequence and single-cell atlas of a marine worm species point towards bursts of gene emergence, duplication and loss as the drivers of lineage-specific body traits

go.nature.com/4oAI2nf

The perplexing body plan of arrow worms decoded

A genome sequence and single-cell atlas of a marine worm species point towards bursts of gene emergence, duplication and loss as the drivers of lineage-specific body traits.

go.nature.com

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Ferdinand Marlétaz @ferdix.bsky.social · Aug 13

After nearly twenty years in the making, our attempt at understanding what makes the chaetognath phylum so unique has finally been published! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
with #LauraPiovani @dariagavr.bsky.social @alexdemendoza.bsky.social @chemamd.bsky.social and others /1

The genomic origin of the unique chaetognath body plan - Nature

Genomic, single-cell transcriptomic and epigenetic analyses show that chaetognaths, following extensive gene loss in the gnathiferan lineage, relied on newly evolved genes and lineage-specific tandem ...

www.nature.com

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Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · Aug 13

These genome structure papers on obscure animals keep getting wilder! 🧪🦑

Nature @nature.com · Aug 13

A genome sequence and single-cell atlas of a marine worm species point towards bursts of gene emergence, duplication and loss as the drivers of lineage-specific body traits

go.nature.com/4oAI2nf

The perplexing body plan of arrow worms decoded

A genome sequence and single-cell atlas of a marine worm species point towards bursts of gene emergence, duplication and loss as the drivers of lineage-specific body traits.

go.nature.com

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Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · Aug 11

A feature in Nature reports on how journals and funders are trying to boost the speed and effectiveness of the peer review processes that are under strain. #Academicsky 🧪

The peer-review crisis: how to fix an overloaded system

Journals and funders are trying to boost the speed and effectiveness of review processes that are under strain.

go.nature.com

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Manuel Irimia @mirimiam.bsky.social · Aug 7

Very happy to share the peer-reviewed version of our work on the cis-regulatory determinants of #microexon #splicing regulation by SRRM3/4, published in @natsmb.nature.com!

rdcu.be/ezGqT

Work led by @sobonnal.bsky.social, with Simon Bajew & @rmartinezcorral.bsky.social. @crg.eu @upf.edu

Core splicing architecture and early spliceosomal recognition determine microexon sensitivity to SRRM3/4

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology - Using massively parallel splicing assays and mathematical modeling, Bonnal et al. uncover that conserved splice site strength and exon length encode...

rdcu.be

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The Royal Society @royalsociety.org · Aug 9

Calling all scientists with an interest in photography! The @royalsocietypublishing.org Photography Competition closes this coming Friday 15 August, with categories including Astronomy, Behaviour, Earth Science & Climatology, Ecology and more: #RSPphotocomp

royalsociety.org/journals/pub...

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Alex de Mendoza @alexdemendoza.bsky.social · Jul 28

Happy to see our latest work out in @molbioevol.bsky.social. We revisit the evolution of 5-methylcytosine across neglected eukaryotic supergroups, establishing an ancestral repressive role silencing genome invaders, both transposons and viral elements👾: academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-... 🧵 1/7

Repressive cytosine methylation is a marker of viral gene transfer across divergent eukaryotes

Abstract. Cytosine DNA methylation patterns vary widely across eukaryotes, with its ancestral roles being understood to have included both transposable ele

academic.oup.com

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