Embryos of the echinoderms, especially those of sea urchins and sea stars, have been
studied as model organisms for over 100 years. The simplicity of their early development …

Recent studies of the sea urchin embryo have elucidated the mechanisms that localize and
pattern its nervous system. These studies have revealed the presence of two overlapping …

The sequencing of the Strongylocentrotus purpuratus genome provides a unique
opportunity to investigate the function and evolution of neural genes. The neurobiology of …

The asymmetric positioning of internal organs on the left or right side of the body is highly
conserved in vertebrates and relies on a Nodal signaling pathway acting on the left side of …

As a sister group to Bilateria, Cnidaria is important for understanding early nervous system
evolution. Here we examine neural development in the anthozoan cnidarian Nematostella …

Patterning the neuroectoderm along the anterior–posterior (AP) axis is a critical event in the
early development of deuterostome embryos. However, the mechanisms that regulate the …

Hemichordates are an important group for investigating the evolution of bilaterian nervous
systems. As the closest chordate outgroup with a bilaterally symmetric adult body plan …

Summary The primary (animal-vegetal)(AV) and secondary (oral-aboral)(OA) axes of sea
urchin embryos are established by distinct regulatory pathways. However, because …

Two major signaling centers have been shown to control patterning of sea urchin embryos.
Canonical Wnt signaling in vegetal blastomeres and Nodal signaling in presumptive oral …

A single origin to the diverse mechanisms of metazoan neurogenesis is suggested by the
involvement of common signaling components and similar classes of transcription factors …