Notch signaling regulates a vast array of crucial developmental processes. It is therefore not
surprising that mutations in genes encoding Notch receptors or ligands lead to a variety of …

Systematics is nowadays facing new challenges with the introduction of new concepts and
new techniques. Compared to most other phyla, phylogenetic relationships among sponges …

The Notch protein is one of the most mechanistically direct transmembrane receptors—the
intracellular domain contains a transcriptional regulator that is released from the membrane …

Sponges are an ancient group of animals that diverged from other metazoans over 600
million years ago. Here we present the draft genome sequence of Amphimedon …

One of the major questions in the evolution of animals is the transition from unicellular to
multicellular organization, which resulted in the emergence of Metazoa through a …

The first animals arose more than six hundred million years ago, yet they left little impression
in the fossil record. Nonetheless, the cell biology and genome composition of the first …

Sponges (phylum Porifera) are a diverse taxon of benthic aquatic animals of great
ecological, commercial, and biopharmaceutical importance. They are arguably the earliest …

New perspectives on the origin of neurogenesis emerged with the identification of genes
encoding post-synaptic proteins as well as many “neurogenic” regulators as the NK, Six …

Sponges have become the focus of studies on molecular evolution and the evolution of
animal body plans due to their ancient branching point in the metazoan lineage. Whereas …

Little is known about the stem cells of organisms early in metazoan evolution. To
characterize the stem cell system in demosponges, we identified Piwi homologs of a …