Evo-devo: variations on ancestral themes.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 18243095.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1016/j.cell.2008.01.003 and PMC identifier 2280037.
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Abstract
Most animals evolved from a common ancestor, Urbilateria, which already had in place the developmental genetic networks for shaping body plans. Comparative genomics has revealed rather unexpectedly that many of the genes present in bilaterian animal ancestors were lost by individual phyla during evolution. Reconstruction of the archetypal developmental genomic tool-kit present in Urbilateria will help to elucidate the contribution of gene loss and developmental constraints to the evolution of animal body plans.
Medical subject headings
- Biological Evolution
- Developmental Biology
- Genetic Variation