Bioluminescence is a phenomenon that has fascinated mankind for centuries. Today the
phenomenon and its sibling, chemiluminescence, have impacted society with a number of …

Thyroid hormones are crucial for organismal development and homeostasis. In humans,
untreated congenital hypothyroidism due to thyroid agenesis inevitably leads to cretinism …

Animal genomes show networks of deeply conserved gene linkages whose phylogenetic
scope and chromosomal context remain unclear. Here, we report chromosome-scale …

Although it is widely believed that early vertebrate evolution was shaped by ancient whole-
genome duplications, the number, timing and mechanism of these events remain elusive …

There is currently little information about the evolution of gene clusters, genome
architectures and karyotypes in early branching animals. Slowly evolving anthozoan …

Chaetognaths (arrow worms) are an enigmatic group of marine animals whose phylogenetic
position remains elusive, in part because they display a mix of developmental and …

Fluctuations in environmental osmolarity are ubiquitous stress factors in many natural
habitats of microorganisms, as they inevitably trigger osmotically instigated fluxes of water …

Apart from sharing common ancestry with chordates, sea cucumbers exhibit a unique
morphology and exceptional regenerative capacity. Here we present the complete genome …

The crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS, the Acanthaster planci species group) is a highly fecund
predator of reef-building corals throughout the Indo-Pacific region. COTS population …

Cell excitability and its modulation by hormones and neurotransmitters involve the concerted
action of a large repertoire of membrane proteins, especially ion channels. Unique …