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Supplementary material from "A feather star is born: embryonic development and nervous system organization in the crinoid Antedon mediterranea"

Version 2 2024-08-21, 06:46
Version 1 2024-08-01, 18:18
Posted on 2024-08-21 - 06:46
Crinoids belong to the Echinodermata, marine invertebrates with a highly derived adult pentaradial body plan. As the sister group to all other extant echinoderms, crinoids occupy a key phylogenetic position to explore the evolutionary history of the whole phylum. However, their development remains understudied compared to that of other echinoderms. Therefore, the aim here was to establish the Mediterranean feather star (Antedon mediterranea) as an experimental system for developmental biology. We first set up a method for culturing embryos in vitro and defined a standardized staging system for this species. We then optimized protocols to characterize the morphological and molecular development of the main structures of the feather star body plan. Focusing on the nervous system, we showed that the larval apical organ includes serotonergic, GABAergic, and glutamatergic neurons, which develop within a conserved anterior molecular signature. We described the composition of the early post-metamorphic nervous system and revealed that it has an anterior signature. Our results further our knowledge on crinoid development and provide new techniques to investigate feather star embryogenesis. This will pave the way for the inclusion of crinoids in comparative studies addressing the origin of the echinoderm body plan and the evolutionary diversification of deuterostomes.

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AUTHORS (10)

SILVIA MERCURIO
Giacomo Gattoni
Giorgio Scarì
Miriam Ascagni
Benedetta Barzaghi
Maurice Elphick
Jenifer C. Croce
Michael Schubert
Elia Benito-Gutiérrez
Roberta Pennati
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