Over 600 million years ago, animals evolved from a unicellular or colonial organism whose
cell (s) captured bacteria with a collar complex, a flagellum surrounded by a microvillar …

The first animals evolved from an unknown single-celled ancestor in the Precambrian
period. Recently, the identification and characterization of the genomic and cellular traits of …

How animals evolved from a single-celled ancestor, transitioning from a unicellular lifestyle
to a coordinated multicellular entity, remains a fascinating question. Key events in this …

The positioning of lysosomes within the cytoplasm is emerging as a critical determinant of
many lysosomal functions. Here we report the identification of a multisubunit complex …

Autophagy-related (Atg) proteins are eukaryotic factors participating in various stages of the
autophagic process. Thus far 34 Atgs have been identified in yeast, including the key …

Molecular phylogenetics has revolutionized our knowledge of the eukaryotic tree of life. With
the advent of genomics, a new discipline of phylogenetics has emerged: phylogenomics …

As arguably the simplest free-living animals, placozoans may represent a primitive
metazoan form, yet their biology is poorly understood. Here we report the sequencing and …

A rise in the oxygen content of the atmosphere and oceans is one of the most popular
explanations for the relatively late and abrupt appearance of animal life on Earth. In this …

Collective cell contractions that generate global tissue deformations are a signature feature
of animal movement and morphogenesis. However, the origin of collective contractility in …

To reconstruct the evolutionary origin of multicellular animals from their unicellular
ancestors, the genome sequences of diverse unicellular relatives are essential. However …