Yi-Jyun Luo

Many thanks to everyone who contributed — it was truly an incredible team effort. A real pleasure working with @tomlewin.bsky.social and @tosuke-s.bsky.social, and wonderful to close the circle together in Japan with Mayuko.

Lophophorata is monophyletic!

Super excited to see this work out in Current Biology - we sequenced a phoronid genome and used shared chromosome fusions to confirm the monophyly of Lophophorata.

A big team effort from the Luo Lab @yjluo.bsky.social!

More here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1m3mV3QW8S...

You can read our paper through this Share Link (available until December 27, 2025).
authors.elsevier.com/a/1m3mV3QW8S...

Synteny plots packed with detailed information can be hard to read. Here's a short animation showing how shared chromosomal fusions link phoronids and bryozoans.

Comparing phoronid and bryozoan genomes revealed seven irreversible "fusion-with-mixing" events—unique chromosomal signatures showing that phoronids and bryozoans are sister groups, finally resolving a century-old debate. (5/5)

To resolve this, we turned to genome structure. Together with colleagues in Japan and the UK, we sequenced the first chromosome-level phoronid genome using PacBio HiFi and 3D chromosome conformation (Hi-C). (4/5)

Within Lophotrochozoa, the relationships among these groups remained controversial. Phylogenomic studies have alternately placed bryozoans with entoprocts and cycliophorans—or as sisters to phoronids. Two competing hypotheses emerged: "Lophophorata" vs. "Polyzoa". (3/5)

For over a century, lophophorates were thought to be related to deuterostomes based on embryology. In 1995, Halanych et al. overturned this view, showing instead that they share a common ancestor with molluscs and annelids, forming the Lophotrochozoa. (2/5)

Some marine invertebrates have puzzled zoologists for over a century. Their features combine traits of very different animals—hard to classify by morphology or development. Among them is Lingula, a brachiopod Darwin called a "living fossil". (1/5)

Pleased to share our latest paper led by @tomlewin.bsky.social, now out in @currentbiology.bsky.social! We present the first chromosome-level genome of a phoronid and show that shared chromosomal fusions unite phoronids and bryozoans as sister groups.
www.cell.com/current-biol...

Upside-down jellyfish Noémie Buratto and Eli Thoré introduce Cassiopea, a genus of jellyfish living invertedly on the sea floor.

2025 spirit animal: the upside-down jellyfish
🪼🙃

Find out about their amazing biology here👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...

by Noémie Buratto& @elisjthore.bsky.social

New preprint! We unexpectedly discovered that some Caenorhabditis species delete parts of their somatic genome early in development, which fragments their chromosomes and eliminates key germline genes. Multiple lines of evidence suggest this bizarre process was present in the ancestors of C. elegans

Apply Now! Tenure-track Faculty Position in Marine Bioscience at the University of Florida's Whitney Lab. explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...

Revised evolutionary relationships within Brachycera and the early origin of bicoid in flies Mulhair et al. uncover a functional bicoid in non-cyclorrhaphan flies, pushing the gene's origin back by ∼20 million years. Reassessing the Diptera phylogeny using the largest dataset to date permits ...

Latest work out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social

We find the fly development gene bicoid is much older than previously thought (~20 million yrs older!) 🪰🧬

To pinpoint its origins we tackled the Diptera phylogeny, providing some resolution (many open questions remain).

🔗 tinyurl.com/2vyuevpy

How to swap the foot for a tentacle and vice versa? Find out in our new story featured in @dev-journal.bsky.social uncovering a transcription factor toggle switch behind the identity of Hydra's extremities.

Great pleasure hosting Jochen Rink @mpi-nat.bsky.social in Taipei with @tosuke-s.bsky.social and Tasuku—perfect weather, good hike, and great science chats on Elephant Mountain.

🥳 Congratulations to our postdoc, Dr. Anna Czarkwiani @aniaczark.bsky.social, on receiving the ERC Starting Grant @erc.europa.eu!

With €2 million in funding, Anna will explore the biology of gravisensation and uncover insights into related disorders. 🧠

#CMCBnews @tudresden.bsky.social #ERCStG

We're excited to share with everyone a preprint of our manuscript that resolves the cellular origins of the symbiosome in cnidarian-algal symbiosis through proteomics of the symbiosome, RNAi, and CRISPR/Cas9 experiments. ⬇️
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Read on below!

1/12 🧵

"Why sequence the #genome of every species? A view from evolutionary biology" Did you catch this amazing new review in our journal by @peterhox.bsky.social? REad it for FREE here now: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... @thembauk.bsky.social #dnasequencing #chromosome #mutation #evolution

Sir John Gurdon, 1933-2025 | Wellcome A Nobel-winning scientist of great modesty and humour, John Gurdon died on 7 October. He made a discovery that opened up the field of cloning research, and created one of the best environments for res...

A Nobel-winning scientist of great modesty and humour, John Gurdon died on 7 Oct. Not only did he make a discovery that laid the foundations for stem cell research, he also created one of the best environments for research at the Wellcome/CRUK Gurdon Institute wellcome.org/news/sir-joh...

I am very happy to announce that the Echinox Lab will open in the BIOM unit at @obs-banyuls.fr in January 2026!! 🥳

We will use several echinoderm species to study animal body plan evolution.
🔽 Check our brand new lab website if you want to learn more about our future research
www.echinox.org

Happy to share the Biodiversity Cell Atlas white paper, out today in @nature.com. We look at the possibilities, challenges, and potential impacts of molecularly mapping cells across the tree of life.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Non-CG DNA methylation in animal genomes Nature Genetics - This Review discusses noncanonical DNA methylation (mCH) in animal genomes and highlights the remaining need to clarify whether mCH represents a conserved regulatory layer or a...

Very happy to have contributed to this review on "non-CG" #methylation in animals now out in @natgenet.nature.com. Working again with @obog.bsky.social and Tirsa is always a pleasure. We think this not so well studied form of methylation should be more widely considered, please read: rdcu.be/eFAEk

Latest from ours: www.cell.com/cell-reports...

This is two stories in one: a case study/cautionary tale on developing genetic tools in new organisms, and the first hint at a gene regulatory network for choanoflagellate multicellular development (which turn out to involve a Hippo/YAP/ECM loop!) A 🧵

Independent genomic trajectories shape adaptation to life on land across animal lineages How animals repeatedly adapted to life on land is a central question in evolutionary biology. While terrestrialisation occurred independently across animal phyla, it remains unclear whether shared gen...

How did animals repeatedly conquer land? 🌊➡️⛰️ We analysed ~1,000 gene repertoires (24M genes!) from all animal phyla to uncover how this happened. Work led by @gemmaeling.bsky.social & Klara Eleftheriadi, both first coauthors of this titanic effort!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A white-fronted bee-eater (Merops bullockoides) decides whether to consume a warningly colored white-barred acraea butterfly (Telchinia encedon). Photo (c) Mike Rowe

📢🦋 Our paper ‘Global selection on insect antipredator coloration’ is out and featured on the cover of @science.org

We ran a huge experiment to find out how ecological context favours camouflage and warning colouration as antipredator strategies. 1/6

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

Evolutionary age correlates with range size across plants and animals - Nature Communications Why are some species widespread while others are found only in small, isolated areas? This study shows that species with narrow ranges, and thus higher extinction risk, are often island-restricted, poor dispersers, and have evolved relatively recently.

Why are some species widespread while others are found only in small, isolated areas? A study in Nature Communications shows that species with narrow ranges, and thus higher extinction risk, are often island-restricted, poor dispersers, and have evolved relatively recently. #evosky 🧪

Flagellar gliding in choanoflagellates Freire-Delgado and Brunet discover a new mode of cell motility in choanoflagellates, the closest relatives of animals. Under mild confinement, choanoflagellate move over surfaces without cell deformat...

New short paper from our lab @currentbiology.bsky.social, in which we discover of a new mode of cell motility for choanoflagellates: flagellar gliding. www.cell.com/current-biol... - A 🧵

Constraints on chromosome evolution revealed by the 229 chromosome pairs of the Atlas blue butterfly The genome of the Atlas blue butterfly contains ten times more chromosomes than most butterflies, and more than any other known diploid animal. Wright et al. show that this extraordinary karyotype is ...

How many chromosomes can an animal have?

In our paper out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social we show that the Atlas blue butterfly has 229 chromosome pairs- the highest in diploid Metazoa! These arose by rapid autosome fragmentation while sex chromosomes stayed intact.
www.cell.com/current-biol...

Genetic parallels in biomineralization of the calcareous sponge Sycon ciliatum and stony corals Discovery of calcarins in calcareous sponges highlights gene duplication and neofunctionalization as drivers of parallel biomineralization, offering insight into the independent evolution of calcifica...

🧪Discovery of calcarins in @elife.bsky.social, a protein family in the sponge Sycon ciliatum, clarifies spicule formation and suggests parallel evolution of carbonate biomineralization in sponges & corals—key for animals as ecosystem engineers of reefs.
@lmumuenchen.bsky.social
#molpalmuc