Maurice Elphick

Repressive cytosine methylation is a marker of viral gene transfer across divergent eukaryotes Abstract. Cytosine DNA methylation patterns vary widely across eukaryotes, with its ancestral roles being understood to have included both transposable ele

Happy to see our latest work out in @molbioevol.bsky.social. We revisit the evolution of 5-methylcytosine across neglected eukaryotic supergroups, establishing an ancestral repressive role silencing genome invaders, both transposons and viral elements👾: academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-... 🧵 1/7

Functional analysis of ligand-gated chloride channels in a cnidarian sheds light on the evolution of inhibitory signalling γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the predominant inhibitory transmitter in the vertebrate nervous system. Fast inhibitory signalling is mediated by type A GABA receptors (GABAARs), which form pentameric ...

Very interesting paper that provides new insights into the evolution of ligand-gated chloride channels.

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

Centre for Evolutionary and Functional Genomics QMUL Faculty of Science and Engineering Research Centres

www.seresearch.qmul.ac.uk/cefg/

Here in @qmulsbbs.bsky.social at @qmul.bsky.social we are seeking to appoint (deadline for applications 17th August 2025) a Reader (Associate Professor) in EVOLUTIONARY GENOMICS to join the QMUL Centre for Evolutionary & Functional Genomics. Please spread the word.
qmul-jobs.tal.net/vx/appcentre...

Great to be at #ICCE19 in Sendai Japan with Nayeli Escudero Castelan, Tabinda Islam and Kite Jones presenting our research on neuropeptide signalling in echinoderms.

“On the tendency of Species to form Varieties” paper by Wallace and Darwin originally published in the Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology. Read on 1st July 1858 at the Society.

Portrait of Darwin (1809-1882) commissioned by the Society in 1883 which can be found in the Society’s Meeting Room.

Portrait of Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913).

Today marks a special anniversary for us. On July 1, 1858, the theory of evolution by natural selection was first presented at a Linnean Society meeting. Papers written by Charles Darwin & Alfred Russel Wallace were read, shaping a groundbreaking idea still powering science today: buff.ly/uBdX7N1

Congratulations Pedro. Much deserved.

I am grateful to have been promoted to the highest rank as Research Professor (ICREA) following my récent 5-year evaluation-a meaningful milestone at the end of my academic path. 🥂🥂

Our new paper is out: "The 3D architecture of the ctenophore aboral organ & the evolution of complex integrative centers in animals.

We reveal a remarkable cell type diversity, nerve net condensation, a multilayered circuit & gene expression profiles.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #ctenophores

A new Cambrian stem-group echinoderm reveals the evolution of the anteroposterior axis Woodgate et al. describe a new bilaterally symmetrical echinoderm, Atlascystis acantha, from the Cambrian of Morocco. Comparisons of plate growth with other echinoderms reveal that Atlascystis possess...

Delighted to share our paper in @currentbiology.bsky.social iology.bsky.social‬ with a palaeo-evo-devo perspective on the evolution of symmetry in echinoderms. Led by Steffi Woodgate with Frankie Dunn, @echinerd.bsky.social, @laurentformery.bsky.social & Sam Zamora
www.cell.com/current-biol...-5

Photo of a bean bug (Riptortus pedestris). Photo credit: Jili Xi.

Bean bugs shut down their ovaries over winter to save energy and now Jili Xi & co reveal that the hormone corazonin coordinates the insect's preparations for winter as the days grow shorter

journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

RT. Fully funded PhD position in my lab to investigate the origin, composition and function of Ambulacrarian ossicles.

Neuropeptide receptors as therapeutic drug targets.

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

BPS Publications Click on the article title to read more.

Biodiversity2Drugs—Renaissance of exploring nature-derived peptides for GPCR ligand discovery bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

🔬 Nature's pharmacy unlocked: #Biodiversity2Drugs explores the vast diversity of peptides from nature to develop safer and more effective medicines, highlighting the importance of biodiversity conservation for human health. #BiodivNBS
www.biodiversa.eu/2025/04/08/b...

It's finally here! Great start of the summer. We got our latest preprint from @chemamd.bsky.social in @qmulsbbs.bsky.social @qmulse.bsky.social, showing evidence of developmental system drift in the specification of dorsoventral (belly vs back) axis in annelids 🪱🪱🪱
#DevBio #EvoDevo

Matous's Giving Page I'm Matouš, a first-year PhD student at the Francis Crick Institute, funded by Cancer Research UK. I use computer-based methods to study kidney cancer and better understand how tumours interact with t...

This Month, I'm doing 100 Push-ups a day to raise money for @cancerresearchuk.org. Now more than ever, we need to fund the research that saves lives. Every rep and every donation counts!

fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/matouss...

Here in the School of Biological & Behavioural Sciences at QMUL we are seeking to appoint an Environmental Analytical Facility Technician. Please spread the word and encourage applications from suitable candidates. Deadline for applications is June 13th.

qmul-jobs.tal.net/vx/mobile-0/...

Our brittle star patterning study is now out at EvoDevo! 🥳
doi.org/10.1186/s132...

@lowelab.bsky.social

Divergence in neuronal signaling pathways despite conserved neuronal identity among Caenorhabditis species Comparing the entire brain of related species can reveal patterns of evolutionary change. Toker et al. show that individual neuronal cell types are highly conserved but that expression of neuronal sig...

Very interesting paper.

Divergence in neuronal signaling pathways despite conserved neuronal identity among Caenorhabditis species: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...

Great PhD opportunities at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples (Italy).

6 fellowships are available to carry out interdisciplinary training.

https://www.szn.it/index.php/it/bandi-e-concorsi/bandi-di-concorso/ph-d-program/ph-d-program-open-calls

Topics include the function of […]

Here in the School of Biological & Behavioural Sciences at QMUL we are seeking to appoint a Teaching Fellow in #Bioinformatics. Please spread the word and encourage applications from suitable candidates. Deadline for applications is June 4th.
qmul-jobs.tal.net/vx/appcentre...

David Squires on … moving scenes and mind games as Crystal Palace win the FA Cup Our cartoonist on the joy, emotion and overthinking that made the Wembley final captivating for once

Here’s this week’s cartoon for @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/football/pic...

Interested in Developmental biology? Imaging? Marine invertebrate body plans? Then this three year postdoc in my group @sotonbiosciences.bsky.social is for you! Join our team to decypher how signalling molecules shape skeletal phenotype in juvenile sea urchins. jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...

Check out our latest work on the evolution of animal genome regulation out today in @nature.com. Nicely summarized below by @ianakim.bsky.social.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This is a major output from our ERC-StG project Evocellmap @erc.europa.eu at @crg.eu

Synthesis pathway of placozoan monoamine receptor agonists compared to the acetylated versions of the compounds that activate human melatonin receptors

New insights into neurotransmitter evolution from a GPCR screen in Trichoplax, a neuron-less animal.

with Yanez-Guerra et al.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.18.649542v1

Trichoplax has tryptamine, tyramine, and phenethylamine receptors […]

[Original post on biologists.social]

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...

It's publication day of my first book: The Tree of Life. The tree of life is a time machine that can take us back 4 billion years to meet our most distant ancestor. It is the magic that lets us tell the origin stories, beginning with this ancient relative, of everything from mushrooms to man.

Individual cells within the indicated cell types with the indicated split-GAL4 lines

Why do some neurons say “sleep” while others shout “stay awake!” — inside the same brain?

In fruit flies, researchers just mapped the molecular chaos behind this nightly tug-of-war. And it’s wilder than we thought.
elifesciences.org/articles/106...

but starfish aren't as "spineless" as you might think!!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....