Transmitter signalling is the universal chemical language of any nervous system, but little is
known about its early evolution. Here, we summarize data about the distribution and …

Glutamate (Glu) is the primary excitatory transmitter in the mammalian brain. But, we know
little about the evolutionary history of this adaptation, including the selection of l-glutamate …

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

The assembly of the neuronal and other major cell type programs occurred early in animal
evolution. We can reconstruct this process by studying non-bilaterians like placozoans …

Cryptic species have been detected across Metazoa, and while no apparent morphological
features distinguish them, it should not impede taxonomists from formal descriptions. We …

The phylogenetic placement of the morphologically simple placozoans is crucial to
understanding the evolution of complex animal traits. Here, we examine the influence of …

Bacterial symbionts are integral to the health and homeostasis of invertebrate hosts.
Notably, members of the Rickettsiales genus Wolbachia influence several aspects of the …

Two hypotheses for the early radiation of the metazoans are vividly discussed in recent
phylogenomic studies, the 'Porifera-first'hypothesis, which places the poriferans as the sister …

Six-state amino acid recoding strategies are commonly applied to combat the effects of
compositional heterogeneity and substitution saturation in phylogenetic analyses. While …

Placozoa is an enigmatic phylum of simple, microscopic, marine metazoans,. Although
intracellular bacteria have been found in all members of this phylum, almost nothing is …