EvodevogenomeUB- Cañestro’s lab

Today in #FestaCiènciaUB we are sharing the progress of our @deuteronoise project JPI studying how marine noise pollution affects embryo development of marine invertebrates. Great work @evadevo.bsky.social in collaboration lasalle’s group of Dra. RosaM Alsina & Ignasi Nou
@ubdivulga.bsky.social

Avui i demà el nostre grup @geneticsub.bsky.social @irbio-ub.bsky.social participa a #FestaCiènciaUB compartint amb els infants el que fem al laboratori i promovent les seves ganes d’investigar i descobrir els enigmes que la natura ens ofereix. Gràcies @ubdivulga.bsky.social per organitzar-ho!

Un mar de problemes - La UB Divulga - UB Taller de la XI Festa de la Ciència de la Universitat de Barcelona.

Despertem a la #FestaCiènciaUB la consciència sobre la contaminació marina que pateixen els nostres mars i oceans 🌊 a través de l'observació de criatures marines 🔎 web.ub.edu/ca/web/laubd... @evodevogenomeub.bsky.social @geneticsub.bsky.social @irbio-ub.bsky.social @biologiaub.bsky.social

#Genètica | Llegim a @es.theconversation.com  aquest article del @criscanestro.bsky.social  i el @gasparsanchez.bsky.social 
➡️ Menos, pero más: entendiendo la pérdida de genes en la evolución.
🔗 https://theconversation.com/menos-pero-mas-entendiendo-la-perdida-de-genes-en-la-evolucion-249961

Moltes gràcies @biolegscat.bsky.social per fer-vo-en eco de la notícia sobre la recerca del nostre grup. Ancorat adalt al nostre fil trobareu un bluetutorial🦋 per qui vulgui llegir una mica més sobre la rellevància de la “pèrdua gènica” i la hipòtesis “menys, però més” 🧬🔬🌊

Publication of our outreach article on our work on #GeneLoss "Less, but more" studying #Fgf #evolution in #Oikopleura @gasparsanchez.bsky.social @geneticsub.bsky.social
@es.theconversation.com
Thanks Laura for your great editorial work @lauragderivera.bsky.social
theconversation.com/menos-pero-m...

Escola Miquel Marti i Pol de Viladecans Científiques, UB-divulga

Institut Vinyes Velles Montornés del Vallés Camins infinitits

Proud of the two amazing women of our lab, @ntorresag.bsky.social @evadevo.bsky.social, who in the Int. Day of Women and Girls in Science went to two schools to talk about their projects and become models for girls and boys to follow 👩‍🔬 #11FdoneSTEMub @ubdivulga.bsky.social @geneticsub.bsky.social

@tinosaurio.bsky.social Constantino’s poster, CRISPR and chill 🤩

Great talk by Nuria @ntorresag.bsky.social on her postdoctoral research in our lab studying how marine biotoxins affects gene expression & chromatin remodelling in Oikopleura embryos, in colaboration with @mariarossello.bsky.social at @geneticsub.bsky.social @irbio-ub.bsky.social @scb.iec.cat

Today, do not miss the posters of our lab at @geneticsub.bsky.social @irbio-ub.bsky.social working in (Eco)EvoDevo using Oikopleura as a model. #Noisosome @evadevo.bsky.social #GenomeScrambling @baielx.bsky.social #CRISPR @tinosaurio.bsky.social

Dioicous new year!! 🍾🥂
Our lab wish you a very free-living 2025!!🥳🥳
Artist 🤩: @tinosaurio.bsky.social

Thanks, here you can find a #Bluetorial of our article on “Less, but more” evolution
👇🏻
bsky.app/profile/evod...

Less, but more: new insights from appendicularians on chordate Fgf evolution and the divergence of tunicate lifestyles https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39686543/

Congrats 🥳🥳 @ntorresag.bsky.social and @mariarossello.bsky.social for being granted with this exciting projects as PIs studying gene regulatory landscape in scramble genomes at #SGREvoDevoCat

#EvoDevo and #Genomics rock 🧬🎸🤘🏻😎

@geneticsub.bsky.social @irbio-ub.bsky.social @biologiaub.bsky.social

Thanks to funders: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades of Spain, ICREA-Academia program and SGR from AGAUR-Generalitat de Catalunya. Thanks to all our colleagues from OIST, and support from our instititution @geneticsub.bsky.social @irbio-ub.bsky.social @biologiaub.bsky.social @ub.edu

These findings can be useful to better understand the adaptive impact of gene loss on the evolution and diversification of species across the tree of life.

In conclussion, the "LESS, but MORE" evolutionary scenario illustrated in this work expands the "LESS is MORE" hypothesis by helping to recognize patterns of evolution associated with the cooccurrence of extensive gene losses and duplications.

Our results reveal differences in gene structure and splice isoforms among Fgf genes of O. dioica from different locations in the world, providing the first molecular evidence of how these fast evolving populations are becoming cryptic species.

Our results points to the Fgf11/12/13/14 as an evolutionary innovation of the olfactores (absent in amphioxus). The shared presence of N-term alternative splicings, which are associated to neuron excitability modulation, is interesting to develop new animal models related to human neuronal disorders

The two surviving subfamilies Fgf9/16/20 and Fgf11/12/13/14 in appendicularians might represent the "minimal Fgf subfamily repertoire" in olfactores, and the fact that they play secreting and intracellular functions, respectively, provides important insights into the evolvability of the Fgf system.

The generation of an Anterior Tail Fgf Source (ATFS) might be connected to the loss of the retinoic acid (RA) signaling in appendicularians, which is especially relevant considering the conserved antagonistic role that Fgf and RA play in the development of the body plan in ascidians and vertebrates.

Among these innovations we propose the role of Fgf in the origin of a new mouth, the patterning of the oikoblast in charge of the secretion of the house, the retention of the tail, the development of the tail fin and the loss of the mesenchyme.

Our work proposes new hypothesis of how losses and duplications of Fgf genes can be related to the origin of developmental innovations linked to the evolution of the fully free-living style of appendicularians, in contrast to the biphasic postmetamorphic sessility of ascidians.

The massive losses and duplications of Fgfs are ancestral, occurring at the base of the appendicularian lineage, after its split from ascidians.

Our work also reveals some of the molecular mechanisms that might have driven the divergent evolution of appendicularians and ascidians, and provides a novel perspective of the evolution of Fgf subfamilies in chordates. Among the main findings and impact of our work, we would like to highlight:

We have identified four associated evolutionary patterns characterizing the “LESS, but MORE”:
🔸conservation of ancestral functions
🔸function shuffling between paralogs linked to gene losses
🔸innovation of new functions after the duplication bursts
🔸function extinctions linked to gene losses.

In this MS, our results reveal a scenario of "LESS, but MORE" characterized by massive losses of all Fgf gene subfamilies, except for the Fgf9/16/20 and Fgf11/12/13/14, which in turn underwent two bursts of duplications.

Previous work had revealed that O. dioica is an evolutionary knockout for RA signaling, and its Wnt system had been profoundly remodeled.

Our lab studies the appendicularian Oikopleura dioica, which has a fast embryo development (from egg to juvenile <20h) and short life-cycle (5d 19C). In contrast to ascidians, it does not suffer a drastic metamorphosis and maintains its chordate body plan and free-swimming style throughout its life.

To better understand the impact of #GeneLoss on the #evolution of mechanisms #development, during the PhD project of @gasparsanchez.bsky.social we investigated the #Fgf system on #appendicularian #tunicates, the sister group of vertebrates, in the context of our own phylum, the #chordates.