Uncoupling of complex regulatory patterning during evolution of larval development in echinoderms

Kristen A Yankura, Megan L Martik, Charlotte K Jennings, Veronica F Hinman

Conservation of orthologous regulatory gene expression domains, especially along the neuroectodermal anterior-posterior axis, in animals as disparate as flies and vertebrates suggests that common patterning mechanisms have been conserved since the base of Bilateria. The homology of axial patterning is far less clear for the many marine animals that undergo a radical transformation in body plan during metamorphosis. The embryos of these animals are microscopic, feeding within the plankton until they metamorphose into their adult forms.