TY - JOUR
T1 - The phylogenetic position of ctenophores and the origin(s) of nervous systems
AU - Jékely, Gáspár
AU - Paps, Jordi
AU - Nielsen, Claus
PY - 2015/1/13
Y1 - 2015/1/13
N2 - Ctenophores have traditionally been treated as eumetazoans, but some recent whole genome studies have revived the idea that they are, rather, the sister group to all other metazoans. This deep branching position implies either that nervous systems have evolved twice, in Ctenophora and in Eumetazoa, or that an ancestral metazoan nervous system has been lost in sponges and placozoans. We caution, however, that phylogenetic-tree construction artifacts may have placed ctenophores too deep in the metazoan tree. We discuss nervous system origins under these alternative phylogenies and in light of comparative data of ctenophore and eumetazoan nervous systems. We argue that characters like neuropeptide signaling, ciliary photoreceptors, gap junctions and presynaptic molecules are consistent with a shared ancestry of nervous systems. However, if ctenophores are the sister group to all other metazoans, this ancestral nervous system was likely very simple. Further studies are needed to resolve the deep phylogeny of metazoans and to have a better understanding of the early steps of nervous system evolution.
AB - Ctenophores have traditionally been treated as eumetazoans, but some recent whole genome studies have revived the idea that they are, rather, the sister group to all other metazoans. This deep branching position implies either that nervous systems have evolved twice, in Ctenophora and in Eumetazoa, or that an ancestral metazoan nervous system has been lost in sponges and placozoans. We caution, however, that phylogenetic-tree construction artifacts may have placed ctenophores too deep in the metazoan tree. We discuss nervous system origins under these alternative phylogenies and in light of comparative data of ctenophore and eumetazoan nervous systems. We argue that characters like neuropeptide signaling, ciliary photoreceptors, gap junctions and presynaptic molecules are consistent with a shared ancestry of nervous systems. However, if ctenophores are the sister group to all other metazoans, this ancestral nervous system was likely very simple. Further studies are needed to resolve the deep phylogeny of metazoans and to have a better understanding of the early steps of nervous system evolution.
KW - Ciliary photoreceptor
KW - Cnidarian
KW - Ctenophore
KW - DEG/ENaC channels
KW - Metazoan phylogeny
KW - MicroRNA
KW - Nervous system evolution
KW - Neuropeptide
KW - Sponge
KW - Trichoplax
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84926337654&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/2041-9139-6-1
DO - 10.1186/2041-9139-6-1
M3 - Review article (Academic Journal)
C2 - 25905000
AN - SCOPUS:84926337654
VL - 6
JO - EvoDevo
JF - EvoDevo
SN - 2041-9139
IS - 1
M1 - 1
ER -