Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Besemer, Ryan M, Slama, Laura, Fogarty, Nicole, Arnold, Sarah, Sharp, Koty, Babonis, Leslie S, Warner, Jacob F
Format: Artículo científico
Language:en
Published: bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2026
Online Access:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41959487/
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1868266061990723585
author Besemer, Ryan M
Slama, Laura
Fogarty, Nicole
Arnold, Sarah
Sharp, Koty
Babonis, Leslie S
Warner, Jacob F
author_facet Besemer, Ryan M
Slama, Laura
Fogarty, Nicole
Arnold, Sarah
Sharp, Koty
Babonis, Leslie S
Warner, Jacob F
Besemer, Ryan M
Slama, Laura
Fogarty, Nicole
Arnold, Sarah
Sharp, Koty
Babonis, Leslie S
Warner, Jacob F
collection PubMed - marine biology
contents Evolutionary rewiring of the endomesoderm gene regulatory networks specify skeleton secreting cells in stony corals. Besemer, Ryan M Slama, Laura Fogarty, Nicole Arnold, Sarah Sharp, Koty Babonis, Leslie S Warner, Jacob F Stony corals are the only cnidarians to secrete a robust calcium carbonate skeleton making them the critical keystone species for one of the most diverse marine ecosystems on earth: coral reefs. Despite their importance, very little is known about the genetic interactions that drive the earliest life history stages of corals during which coral-specific traits emerge, such as specification of coral skeletogenic cells. Here, we used a combination of chromatin profiling and gene expression assays to derive the -regulatory architectures of early coral development using the emerging model system . From this work we found that elements of the cnidarian endomesoderm gene regulatory network have been co-opted into a subnetwork underlying the specification of coral skeleton secreting cells. We further identified the -regulatory element responsible for the novel expression of the endomesodermal gene Brachyury in coral skeletogenic cells and demonstrated that this element is capable of reproducing similar expression patterns in , a distantly related species that does not produce a skeleton. These findings support a novel dual role of the endomesodermal GRN in establishing germ layer identity and specifying skeleton secreting cells in stony corals and provide a gene-regulatory framework that underpins the evolution and diversification of stony corals from other cnidarian lineages.
format Artículo científico
id pubmed_41959487
institution PubMed
language en
publishDate 2026
publisher bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
record_format pubmed
spellingShingle Evolutionary rewiring of the endomesoderm gene regulatory networks specify skeleton secreting cells in stony corals.
Besemer, Ryan M
Slama, Laura
Fogarty, Nicole
Arnold, Sarah
Sharp, Koty
Babonis, Leslie S
Warner, Jacob F
Evolutionary rewiring of the endomesoderm gene regulatory networks specify skeleton secreting cells in stony corals. Besemer, Ryan M Slama, Laura Fogarty, Nicole Arnold, Sarah Sharp, Koty Babonis, Leslie S Warner, Jacob F Stony corals are the only cnidarians to secrete a robust calcium carbonate skeleton making them the critical keystone species for one of the most diverse marine ecosystems on earth: coral reefs. Despite their importance, very little is known about the genetic interactions that drive the earliest life history stages of corals during which coral-specific traits emerge, such as specification of coral skeletogenic cells. Here, we used a combination of chromatin profiling and gene expression assays to derive the -regulatory architectures of early coral development using the emerging model system . From this work we found that elements of the cnidarian endomesoderm gene regulatory network have been co-opted into a subnetwork underlying the specification of coral skeleton secreting cells. We further identified the -regulatory element responsible for the novel expression of the endomesodermal gene Brachyury in coral skeletogenic cells and demonstrated that this element is capable of reproducing similar expression patterns in , a distantly related species that does not produce a skeleton. These findings support a novel dual role of the endomesodermal GRN in establishing germ layer identity and specifying skeleton secreting cells in stony corals and provide a gene-regulatory framework that underpins the evolution and diversification of stony corals from other cnidarian lineages.
title Evolutionary rewiring of the endomesoderm gene regulatory networks specify skeleton secreting cells in stony corals.
url https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41959487/