Although all bilaterian animals have a related set of Hox genes, the genomic organization of
this gene complement comes in different flavors. In some unrelated species, Hox genes are …

Charles Darwin believed that all traits of organisms have been honed to near perfection by
natural selection. The empirical basis underlying Darwin's conclusions consisted of …

Background Hox genes were critical to many morphological innovations of bilaterian
animals. However, early Hox evolution remains obscure. Phylogenetic, developmental, and …

Reciprocal questions often frame studies of the evolution of developmental mechanisms.
How can species share similar developmental genetic toolkits but still generate diverse life …

Hox genes are important regulators in animal development. They often show a mosaic of
conserved (eg, longitudinal axis patterning) and lineage-specific novel functions (eg …

Hox genes are known to specify spatial identities along the anterior-posterior axis during
embryogenesis. In vertebrates and most other deuterostomes, they are arranged in sets of …

Temporal collinearity is often considered the main force preserving Hox gene clusters in
animal genomes. Studies that combine genomic and gene expression data are scarce …

The discovery of Hox gene clusters, first in Drosophila (a protostome) and then as
homologues in vertebrates (deuterostomes), was a major step in our understanding of both …

Background Freshwater planarians are well known for their regenerative abilities. Less well
known is how planarians maintain spatial patterning in long-lived adult animals or how they …

Tunicates have been extensively studied because of their crucial phylogenetic location (the
closest living relatives of vertebrates) and particular developmental plan. Recent genome …