Freshly out at @natcomms.nature.com ! Our @univie.ac.at @awi.de @viennabiocenter.bsky.social @ercgrantees.bsky.social research into neurogenic plasticity of adult worm brains, and similarities in stem cells supporting growth of camera-type eyes. www.nature.com/articles/s41... [1/7]

We studied remodeling, development, and patterning of the nervous system in asexually reproducing annelids. The involvement of Pax6 in these processes is evolutionary conserved, despite the variability and evolution of the developmental trajectories. doi.org/10.3390/biol...

Really excited to present the results of a fantastic collaboration with Jesse Veenvliet @jesseveenvliet.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @poldresden.bsky.social 🤩

We find a unique mechanism for body axis elongation in mammals, different from other vertebrate species

➡️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

What happens if your asexual reproduction goes wrong? For instance, you can grow a head instead of a tail. But if you're a flatworm, it's not that bad - as we showed in our newest paper published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: tinyurl.com/4dnp2ffz

A toolkit for testing membrane-localising tags across species Transgenic markers and tools have revolutionised how we study cells and developing organisms. Some of the elements needed to construct those tools are universally applicable (e.g. fluorescent proteins...

How can we see the cells that make up a living organism? Membrane-localising tags can drive fluorescent proteins to the cell's outer membrane, making their outlines visible. But the tags don't work well in all organisms. How do you find one for your species of interest? 🧵

Check our latest preprint

📢 The First Circular for the 15th International Polychaete Conference (IPC15) is out! Join us in Frankfurt, Germany • 27–31 July 2026
#IPC15 #Polychaetes #Annelida

polychaete-association.com/ipc15-frankf...

So happy to see the cephalic furrow combo out back-to-back! This was a wonderful collaborative endeavor 🥹

Final version of our paper on ciliary metachronal waves out now in Science Advances! doi.org/10.1126/scia...

This is the main thesis work of my PhD student Rebecca Poon, who caught many #platnereis larvae and tirelessly ablated them with a laser. THREAD

Cell Proliferation and Morphogenetic Compartmentalization in the Phoronid Phoronopsis harmeri: Conserved and Derived Patterns www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09....

New paper on the expression of the estrogen receptor in the marine polychaete, Capitella teleta!

Congrats to @andreamurillo.bsky.social on another paper from her PhD!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Great collaboration with the Seaver lab!

A genetically tractable non-vertebrate system to study complete camera-type eye regeneration Nature Communications - Accorsi et al. show that the apple snail Pomacea canaliculata has eyes similar to humans and can fully regenerate them. They then developed genetic tools to establish these...

Evolution’s eye game is wild, but mollusks take it to another level

CRISPR in apple snails gives us a new model to dissect how nature rebuilds complex organs like the camera-type eyes we humans possess

It turns out Evolution doesn’t just innovate, it rewinds, remixes, & regenerates

rdcu.be/ezw0t

Latest paper elifesciences.org/articles/107... closes an important cycle in our efforts to study regeneration: week-long recordings allow us to observe the behaviour of cells during the entire course of regeneration in a crustacean leg – bright objects in movie are fluorescent nuclei of cells. 1/6

Proud to present the peer-reviewed version of our Cell Type Allometry paper, out today in Science Advances!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Are animals of different sizes made of the same cell types?

Here’s an update of the main points and revision items

(with memes!)

Thread 👇🧵

Job Alert! We are recruiting one postdoc to work on spiralian embryos and their crazy polar lobes. More info about this HFSP-funded position on our website baronelab.org: scroll to the end, click on "this could be you"...start your adventure!

Comparative Regeneration Dynamics of Platynereis dumerilii and Pygospio elegans (Annelida): Morphological and Cellular Events We compared the morphological and histological events of regeneration in Platynereis dumerilii and Pygospio elegans. While P. elegans regenerates both head and tail, P. dumerilii regrows only the tai...

Comparative Regeneration Dynamics of Platynereis dumerilii and Pygospio elegans (Annelida): Morphological and Cellular Events doi.org/10.1002/jez....

Unexpected role of β-catenin signaling in germ layer specification

In this 'Show and tell' post, @genikhovich.bsky.social and @tclebedeva.bsky.social tell us about their video of a GFP-β-catenin knock-in Nematostella embryo from their latest paper:
🎥 thenode.biologists.com/unexpected-r...

Multifaceted conserved functions of Notch during post-embryonic neurogenesis in the annelid Platynereis Notch signaling is an evolutionarily conserved pathway known to orchestrate neurogenesis by regulating the transition of progenitor cells to differentiated neurons and glia, as well as by directing ne...

Paper alert! We are a little late but very proud of the team's latest study on the neurogenic functions of the Notch signalling pathway during #regeneration and posterior elongation in #platynereis. @ijmonod.bsky.social @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social @upcite.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A positive feedback loop between germ cells and gonads induces and maintains sexual reproduction in a cnidarian Cnidarian germ cells secrete TGF-β to induce gonad development, and gonads induce germ cells by activating Tfap2 in stem cells.

New insight on gonad morphogenesis ! Our new paper reveals how germ & somatic cells interact through TGF-Beta feedback loop to drive gonad morphogenesis in Hydractinia.
Check out the full paper in Science Advances !

tinyurl.com/245rw699

The Hydractinia cell atlas reveals cellular and molecular principles of cnidarian coloniality - Nature Communications Here they generate a cell type atlas of the colonial cnidarian Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus, which reveals that distinct colony parts are mostly made from unique combinations of shared cell types, an...

Happy to present the peer-reviewed version of our Hydractinia Cell Atlas paper out today in Nature Communications! As I presented this back when we were in “that other” social network, let me recap the basic findings and revision items in this thread:

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The revised version of our #Platynereis #connectome paper is now out:

https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/97964

Cell-type-level annotation of the whole organisms, including synaptic and desmosomal connectomes. Can be explored with CATMAID here […]

[Original post on biologists.social]

Micrognathozoa, or ‘little jaw animals’, are one of the ~32 evolutionarily independent lineages on the animal tree of life. This phylum contains some of the smallest animals reaching a maximum size of 150µm. Populations are found in Greenland, the Pyrenees Mountains, and a Subantarctic island. Despite this disjoint distribution, there is currently only one described species, Limnognathia maerski. After almost a decade of collecting effort, the Katrine Worsaae group here at BIO, UCPH, joining teams from USA, UK, France, and Spain, was able to collect samples from all three populations. With this new material, using advanced microscopy, single-cell transcriptomic techniques, and machine learning, we interrogate the relationships among populations, test species limits, and infer their biogeographic history for the first time. Although we find no morphological differences, genetic data distinguish the Subantarctic population as a separate species, here named Limnognathia desmeti. The distribution of this old freshwater phylum, Micrognathozoa, can only be explained by overseas dispersal which raises questions about potential dormant life stages and undiscovered populations.

Our paper describing the second species of Micrognathozoa, Limnognathia desmeti, is out: doi.org/10.1098/rspb... - big thanks to all coauthors, to Willem H. De Smet for finding this species, and to the Villum Foundation a.o. for supporting this project!

The results of our study suggest involvement of ParaHox genes in whole-body patterning and/or in tissue remodeling during growth and asexual reproduction in annelids, and may be evidence of the functional diversification of duplicated genes. doi.org/10.3390/gene...

If you like snowflakes, check our new preprint about axial patterning in brittle stars ⭐

We looked at the expression of anteroposterior patterning genes in Amphipholis squamata juveniles, and compared it with existing data from other classes

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

@lowelab.bsky.social

Society for Developmental Biology logo Society for Developmental Biology 2025 Award Winners Edwin G. Conklin Medal Headshot of Blanche Capel Blanche Capel, Duke University Developmental Biology-Society for Developmental Biology Lifetime Achievement Award Headshot of Billie Swalla Billie Swalla, University of Washington Viktor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize Headshot of Erica Crespi Erica Crespi, Washington State University Elizabeth D. Hay New Investigator Award Headshot of Mubarek Syed Mubarak Syed, The University of New Mexico Society for Developmental Biology Trainee Science Communication Award Headshot of Joaquin Navajas Acedo Joaquin Navajas Acedo, Biozentrum at University of Basel

Congrats to the 2025 SDB Award Winners!
Conklin Medal: Blanche Capel
DB-SDB Lifetime Achievement Award: Billie Swalla
Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize: Erica Crespi
Hay New Investigator Award: Mubarak Syed
SDB Trainee Science Communication Award: Joaquin Navajas Acedo
bit.ly/4bcrFap

Vasa, Piwi, and Pl10 Expression during Sexual Maturation and Asexual Reproduction in the Annelid Pristina longiseta Naidids are tiny, transparent freshwater oligochaetes, which are well known for their ability to propagate asexually. Despite the fact that sexually mature individuals and cocoons with embryos are som...

In our study, we have shown that sexually reproducing annelids are able to establish germ cells and become fully sexually mature. We also have discovered that asexual propagation and germ cell/gonadal development/maturation are not mutually exclusive. doi.org/10.3390/jdb1...

Cephalopod sex determination and its ancient evolutionary origin Octopuses, squids, and cuttlefishes—the coleoid cephalopods—are a remarkable branch in the tree of life whose members exhibit a repertoire of sophisti…

Octo-squid-nautiloid sex chromosomes!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Origin of the primordial germ cells in annelids: a combination of inherited cytoplasmic determinants, followed by inductive processes? Germ Line/Multipotency Genes Show Differential Expression during Embryonic Development of the Annelid Enchytraeus coronatus www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/12...

We looked into details of the stem cell system of catenulids. Surprisingly, it was very different from the canonical neoblast-based systems of other flatworms. What does it tell about the evolution of stem cells and regeneration? Check in our latest paper in @naturecomms.bsky.social:
bit.ly/3WK2ZzR

Our article on Platynereis’ #StemCells and #regeneration is out! Kudos to @chrisruta, and @biyolokum and our amazing collaborators @alexwstockinger, @Adelmann_L in @FRKT_labs. The transgenics work was carried out at @IJMonod, and transcriptomics at @MaxPerutzLabs. doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Our phoronida paper is out: Digestive System Development and Posterior Hox/Parahox Gene Expression During Larval Life and Metamorphosis of the Phoronid Phoronopsis harmeri onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....