J. F. Ryan

Cytoplasmic polyadenylation is an ancestral hallmark of early development in animals

This study shows cytoplasmic polyadenylation via CPEBs originated in the animal stem lineage and is conserved across cnidarians, ctenophores, and vertebrates.

Independent innexin radiation shaped signaling in ctenophores.

This study identifies and characterizes innexin genes in four ctenophore species, showing independent evolution of these channels and suggesting their presence in the last common ancestor of animals.

A cnidarian phylogenomic tree fitted with hundreds of 18S leaves

The paper constructs a cnidarian phylogenomic tree using 18S rRNA data and transcriptomes, confirming key relationships and proposing a new clade name.

Knockout of a single Sox gene resurrects an ancestral cell type in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis

The paper shows that knocking out NvSox2 in Nematostella vectensis converts nematocytes into spirocytes, revealing a mechanism for cnidocyte diversity.

Tracing animal genomic evolution with the chromosomal-level assembly of the freshwater sponge Ephydatia muelleri

The paper presents the chromosomal-level genome assembly of Ephydatia muelleri and analyzes its genomic architecture and adaptation mechanisms.

Six-state amino acid recoding is not an effective strategy to offset the effects of compositional heterogeneity and saturation in phylogenetic analyses

This study evaluates 6-state amino acid recoding in phylogenetic analyses and finds it ineffective against saturation and compositional heterogeneity, with higher state recoding schemes performing better.

Genomic analysis of the tryptome reveals molecular mechanisms of gland cell evolution

The paper analyzes the genomic diversity of trypsin genes in Nematostella vectensis to uncover evolutionary mechanisms driving gland cell specialization.