Early Cambrian echinodermsStrongylocentrotus purpuratus genomebiomineralized tissue stereomechinoderm fossil recordpaleogenomics
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Abstract (AI)
Paleogenomics propels the meaning of genomic studies back through hundreds of millions of years of deep time. Now that the genome of the echinoid Strongylocentrotus purpuratus is sequenced, the operation of its genes can be interpreted in light of the well-understood echinoderm fossil record. Characters that first appear in Early Cambrian forms are still characteristic of echinoderms today. Key genes for one of these characters, the biomineralized tissue stereom, can be identified in the S. purpuratus genome and are likely to be the same genes that were involved with stereom formation in the earliest echinoderms some 520 million years ago.
Key Findings
1
Echinoderm characters that first appeared in Early Cambrian fossils remain characteristic of modern echinoderms.
2
Genes associated with formation of the biomineralized stereom tissue are identifiable in the S. purpuratus genome.
3
Paleogenomics enables interpretation of echinoderm gene function across hundreds of millions of years using genomic and fossil-record evidence.
4
The sequenced Strongylocentrotus purpuratus genome provides a framework for linking modern gene operation with echinoderm evolutionary history.
5
These stereom-related genes likely participated in stereom formation in the earliest echinoderms approximately 520 million years ago.
Research Object
Echinoderms, particularly the echinoid Strongylocentrotus purpuratus and their fossil ancestors
Research Subject
The evolutionary conservation and genomic basis of stereom biomineralized tissue formation across deep time
Publication Details
Publication Date
2006-11-09
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