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In the most recent work of my laboratory, we demonstrate that placozoans can respond to endogenous monoamines. Here you can look at the effects of tyramine, which increases the speed of placozoans. Tryptamine and Phenethylamine also have effects.
#Science #Placozoans #Monoamines

Functional and phylogenetic analysis of placozoan GPCRs reveal the prebilaterian origin of monoaminergic signalling. Monoamines are biologically active compounds crucial for neurotransmission and various physiological processes. They include neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and melatonin, which regulate mood, movement, and sleep in humans. In ecdysozoans, monoamines such as tyramine are important for modulating locomotion, learning, and feeding. The monoaminergic signalling system has been considered a bilaterian innovation, with conflicting evidence supporting its existence in earlier branching, non-bilaterian animals. Here, we challenge the bilaterian origin hypothesis by combining large-scale receptor deorphanisation with phylogenetic analyses to identify monoamine receptors from the placozoan Trichoplax adhaerens. We demonstrate that these receptors are homologous to known bilaterian GPCRs, and behavioural assays demonstrate that monoamines like tyramine and tryptamine affect the speed of locomotion and body shape of this animal, respectively. These responses, together with the presence of biosynthetic enzymes for these molecules, reveal that monoaminergic signalling is both active and endogenous in placozoans. Our findings provide compelling evidence for a prebilaterian origin of monoaminergic systems, reshaping our understanding of early nervous system evolution. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

Preprint alert!. In the most recent work of my laboratory, we demonstrate that placozoans are able to respond to monoamines, furthermore, we experimentally characterise the receptors responsible for these effects. #Science #Placozoans #Neurotransmitters #Monoamines

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

ICY INVERTS Cruise NBP 25-01 Our team of four scientists who study the biology of marine invertebrate animals (i.e., animals without backbones) will board the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer in Lyttleton, New Zealand on....

Be sure to follow ICB coauthor, Kevin Kocot's recent #NSF funded project www.icyinverts.com
& read
Employing Phylogenomics to Resolve the Relationships among #Cnidarians, #Ctenophores, Sponges, #Placozoans, & #Bilaterians

Whelan, (@)kmkocot on Instagram, & Halanych

doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

a man in a suit is sitting in a chair with the words this is my favorite thing ever above him Alt: Taskmaster host Alex Horne is sitting in a chair with the words this is my favorite thing ever below him

Looking forward to a new year of stoking #invertebrate enthusiasms by teaching Invertebrate Morphology & #Evolution #ZOO2700 with @sherihincks.bsky.social

So many incredible stories and so much diversity & excited to get to #Toxoplasma, #Ctenophores and #Placozoans in the first few weeks!

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