Correction: Discoveries and innovations in cnidarian biology at Cnidofest 2024 - Developmental Biology Advances

The Duplication-Degeneration-Complementation Model: A Seminal Framework for Evolutionary Retention of Duplicated Genes - PubMed

The Duplication-Degeneration-Complementation (DDC) model, proposed by Allan Force, Michael Lynch, John Postlethwait and colleagues in 1999, revolutionized our understanding of gene duplicate evolution by demonstrating how complementary losses of regulatory subfunctions allow both gene copies to pers …

Whole-genome duplication shaped cell-type evolution in the vertebrate brain - PubMed

The complex brains of vertebrates have more cell types than those of their closest relatives. Whole-genome duplications (WGDs) occurred during early vertebrate evolution¹, but it is unclear whether the duplicated genes (ohnologues) facilitated cell-type evolution. Here using brain single- …

Developmental evidence for the evolutionary origins of the mammalian TMJ disc - Developmental Biology Advances

Background The mammalian jaw joint between the dentary bone of the lower jaw and the squamosal/temporal bone of the upper jaw is a mammalian evolutionary innovation that enables complex movements essential for chewing and speaking. It comprises the mandibular condyle, the glenoid (mandibular) fossa, and an interposed fibrocartilaginous disc. The disc is critical for joint function, and its pathology underlies several temporomandibular disorders (TMD), which can affect up to a third of adult and elderly patients. The mammalian jaw joint is proposed to have evolved to stabilize the existing primary jaw joint, found in all non-mammalian jawed vertebrates, acting as a buttress for the lower jaw against the upper to prevent jaw dislocation. The origin of the disc is less well understood, but it has been hypothesized to have evolved either from the top layers of the fibrocartilaginous condyle, or as an independent structure, potentially evolved from an existing tendon. Results To resolve these relationships, the condyle and disc were analysed during murine development to shed light on their molecular and cellular identity during formation of the joint. Using Bulk RNA-seq we demonstrate that the forming temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disc exhibited a developmental trajectory distinct from that of the mandibular condyle, with Lgr5 expression serving as a marker of the developing disc from early developmental stages. Clonal tracing of cells at the interface between the condyle and disc, using Pcag-CreER;Confetti mice, further demonstrated that the disc cells formed a distinct compartment compared to the superficial layers of the condyle. Notably, disc identity was preserved in Wnt1-Cre; Sox9fl/fl mutants where the condyle failed to form. Conclusions Together, these findings establish the TMJ disc as having a distinct molecular and cellular identity, initiating independently from the condyle, while sharing many features in common with a tendon. Together these findings support the TMJ disc as evolving from a tendon rather than from the condyle.

Ontogenetic ecological shifts drive level-dependent patterns of phenotypic disparity in reef fishes - PubMed

Ecological shifts are major drivers of phenotypic diversification across the Tree of Life. Yet in many organisms, these transitions occur not only across evolutionary time but within individual life histories, complicating expectations for how ecological shifts shape morphology. In such cases, devel …

Professor Beverley Glover | Department of Plant Sciences

Research group Evolution and Development Research overview My main area of interest is the evolution and development of floral features that attract pollinating animals. I’m keen to approach questions of floral evolution in an integrative way, combining molecular genetic approaches to understand floral development with functional analyses using bumblebees and other