Evolutionary developmental biology articles from across Nature Portfolio

An analysis of cell-type diversity in brain samples from a variety of mammalian species, both during development and in adult animals, reveals that the TAC3 initial class of striatal interneurons is conserved across placental mammals and is homologous to Th striatal interneurons in rodents.

Here, the authors investigate chromatin-based gene regulation in the closest relative of animal, choanoflagellates. They uncover a putative dual role for the histone modification H3K27me3 in regulating of protein-coding genes during differentiation and transposable elements.

Many satyrid butterflies show seasonal variation in wing eyespot size in response to temperature. Tissue-specific transcriptomics, comparative genomics and genome editing identify a taxon-specific promoter of a Hox gene that controls eyespot size plasticity and probably contributed to wing eyespot diversity in this clade.

The evolutionary origin of the bilaterian gut with two openings is debated. Expression in xenacoelomorphs, the sister group to bilaterians, of genes involved in bilaterian gut patterning suggests that the xenacoelomorph gonopore is homologous to the bilaterian anus.

The authors show that reducing HSP90 function in Tribolium castaneum uncovers a heritable reduced-eye trait linked to the atonal gene. This trait enhances fitness under continuous light, showing how cryptic genetic variation may drive adaptation.

Single-cell analysis of placental transcriptomes across species reveals the evolutionary divergence and crosstalk of maternal and fetal cell types during early mammalian evolution.

Unlike the inner retina of vertebrates, bobtail squids process visual signals in a brain optic lobe that relies on a wide repertoire of predominantly dopaminergic cell types. Single-cell transcriptomics provided evidence of extensive molecular diversification in cephalopods that confirms Cajal’s century-old model of the ‘deep retina’.

Statistical analyses across hundreds of species revealed that bird wing and leg proportions evolve independently and accommodate divergent ecological tasks. By contrast, bat limbs evolve in unison, which potentially restricts their evolutionary capacity. We attribute this result to the common development and function of bat forelimbs and hindlimbs within the membranous wing.

A survey of Amphioxus cell types reveals ancient neurosecretory cells and multiple developmental origins of the chordate brain.

A cell population in the neural plate border region of embryos of ascidians, the closest relatives of vertebrates, has properties similar to those of the neural crest cells and neuromesodermal cells of vertebrate embryos. The evolutionary origin of these multipotent cells may date back to the common ancestor of vertebrates and ascidians.

Hajk-Georg Drost recalls a 2010 publication that used a phylotranscriptomic approach to estimate the age of genes that contribute to the developmental transcriptome across animal species and inspired a subsequent study on the embryonic hourglass in plants.