Do you want to know when your favorite species activates its genome?

Just input its genome size (🧬 in bp) and egg volumen (🥚 in um3) here!

ZGA_onset = -2.37 * log10(gDNA/EggVol) + 11.74

I am honored to have been involved in this super cool open-science project. Thanks, Michalis!

Thrilled to be part of this beautiful work! Stay tuned😉

New findings on genomic regulation mechanisms throughout evolution The conservation of genome regulatory elements over long periods of evolution is not limited to vertebrates, as previously thought, but also in echinoderms (invertebrates). This is one of the most not...

New findings on genomic regulation mechanisms throughout evolution | EurekAlert! www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

Un viaggio all’origine dei sistemi nervosi Il nuovo progetto GRNevo, finanziato con un grant FIS-3 Advanced da 1,9 milioni di euro, studierà come si formano i neuroni durante lo sviluppo in specie animali molto distanti tra loro: dal moscerino...

Thrilled to share that I’ve been awarded a FIS-3 Advanced Grant (ERC-inspired) to study the evolution of neurogenic GRNs.
Recruiting soon: 4 postdocs + 3 PhDs
Press release in Italian — to decolonise scientific language 😄
magazine.unibo.it/it/articoli/...
Email me if interested in joining the lab

Coolness alert!! If you didn’t attend this fantastic microscopy course last year, make sure you do so this coming April! Don’t miss the chance to learn from the best in the field. Plus, the course takes place at @szndohrn.bsky.social, one of the most iconic marine stations in the world!

I am very happy (and a bit scared) to present to you what we have been working on over the last 4 years. This manuscript is exactly what I dreamt of when I started the lab and I could not be happier and prouder of the outcome!

Deep conservation of cis-regulatory elements and chromatin organization in echinoderms uncover ancestral regulatory features of animal genomes Nature Ecology & Evolution - Analysis of the 3D chromatin architecture and cis-regulatory elements in a sea urchin and a sea star reveals mechanisms of 3D chromatin organization in echinoderms...

Our work on the evolution of the regulatory genome of echinoderms is now out in @natecoevo.nature.com. Led by my former PhD Marta Magri, Danila Voronov & Saoirse Foley. Great collaboration of Arnone, Hinman & Maeso labs, started long time ago with our missed José Luis Gomez-Skarmeta: rdcu.be/eXX8l

Congratulations to the all team for this amazing work understanding how the cis regulatory elements and chromatin organization are relevant in the ancestral regulatory features of animal genomes.

This study started with a collaboration with José Luís Gómez Skarmeta from #CABD.

Deep conservation of cis-regulatory elements and chromatin organization in echinoderms uncover ancestral regulatory features of animal genomes - Nature Ecology & Evolution Analysis of the 3D chromatin architecture and cis-regulatory elements in a sea urchin and a sea star reveals mechanisms of 3D chromatin organization in echinoderms and the long-term evolutionary dynam...

I am extremely proud and happy to announce that another paper from my PhD days has just been published in @natecoevo.nature.com on evolution of genome and gene regulation thanks to all the amazing people involved.

Check the paper out at:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Extremely happy to see this work out! I am deeply grateful to everyone who contributed, and especially to @danivoronov.bsky.social, who took the lead! @arnonelab.bsky.social sky is the limit! 🌊🔬🧬

When you combine a brilliant scientist with strong grant support, the result is magic. This is exactly what the NEF project will deliver, nothing less!

Two side-by-side microscope images of the same early auricularia larva (Holothuria tubulosa): brightfield on the left and DAPI-stained nuclei in blue on the right, with a 0.1 mm scale bar.

First #MicroscopeMonday contribution!

Early auricularia larva of Holothuria tubulosa (4 days post-fertilisation, dpf) shown in brightfield (left) and with DAPI-stained nuclei (right, blue). Same larva. Same view.

Bonus: this was also my first DAPI stain, imaged on an inverted microscope.

Researchers discover an “all-body brain” in sea urchins An international team of researchers, including scientists from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, has uncovered a surprisingly complex nervous system in sea urchins. The animals appear to possess an “...

Researchers discover an "all-body brain" in sea urchins - @mfnberlin.bsky.social

www.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin/en/museum/me...

Thank you!

Thanks a lot Uli!

Thank you! 😁

Thanks a lot Pedro!! 😁

Thank you Alison!

Single-nucleus profiling highlights the all-brain echinoderm nervous system A sea urchin is a head with a brain-like organization and a vertebrate-type retinal signature.

Our study, just published in #ScienceAdvances and funded by @hfspo.bsky.social, explores the post metamorphic cell composition of the sea urchin juvenile, revealing that its body is head-like. Long considered brainless creatures, they’re all brain instead!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

and in collaboration with @mfnberlin.bsky.social, Jack Ullrich-Lüter, Jil Carl, Maria Schauer, Anne-C. Zakrzewski, Berit Zemann, Carsten Lüter, @biodev-vlfr.bsky.social @croce-urchin.bsky.social, Tiphaine Sancerni, Oğuz Akar, @igflyon.bsky.social, @almazan.bsky.social #ScienceAdvancesResearch

With @szndohrn.bsky.social @danivoronov.bsky.social , @mlrusciano.bsky.social , @mariacocurullo.bsky.social, Filomena Caccavale, Giovanna Benvenuto

Long considered brainless creatures, our results provide evidence that sea urchins possess a highly photosensitive nervous system organized in an “all-brain” manner instead.

Adding to this complexity, we discovered a vast array of photoreceptor cells with a conserved retinal molecular fingerprint, as well as a population expressing a rare combination of opsins that we hypothesize is an ideal candidate for non-ocular sea urchin vision.

Moreover, we found that the postmetamorphic nervous system, remarkable for its cell type diversity and complexity, also exhibits a head-like molecular signature and expresses vertebrate brain gene homologs.

Based on our findings, we report that the sea urchin juvenile body plan is head-like, similar to what has previously been demonstrated in sea stars and brittle stars, suggesting that echinoderms in general are predominantly head-like organisms.

By comparing juvenile and larval cell types, we identified those that retain developmental molecular signatures and gene regulatory fingerprints, as well as juvenile-specific ones.

With this project, funded by @hfspo.bsky.social, we identified the cell type repertoire of the postmetamorphic sea urchin juvenile at a single nucleus level.

I am beyond excited to share that my postdoc project @szndohrn.bsky.social and the @arnonelab.bsky.social is now available in #ScienceAdvances @science.org. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

We discuss new research on sea urchins, how echinoderms remain relevant experimental systems in the multiomics era, and the future of the cell type evolution and development field.