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Sea shell diversity and rapidly evolving secretomes: insights into the evolution of biomineralization

Overview of attention for article published in Frontiers in Zoology, June 2016
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  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (90th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (86th percentile)

Mentioned by

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1 news outlet
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14 X users
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3 Facebook pages
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1 Google+ user

Citations

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139 Dimensions

Readers on

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170 Mendeley
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Title
Sea shell diversity and rapidly evolving secretomes: insights into the evolution of biomineralization
Published in
Frontiers in Zoology, June 2016
DOI 10.1186/s12983-016-0155-z
Pubmed ID
Authors

Kevin M. Kocot, Felipe Aguilera, Carmel McDougall, Daniel J. Jackson, Bernard M. Degnan

Abstract

An external skeleton is an essential part of the body plan of many animals and is thought to be one of the key factors that enabled the great expansion in animal diversity and disparity during the Cambrian explosion. Molluscs are considered ideal to study the evolution of biomineralization because of their diversity of highly complex, robust and patterned shells. The molluscan shell forms externally at the interface of animal and environment, and involves controlled deposition of calcium carbonate within a framework of macromolecules that are secreted from the dorsal mantle epithelium. Despite its deep conservation within Mollusca, the mantle is capable of producing an incredible diversity of shell patterns, and macro- and micro-architectures. Here we review recent developments within the field of molluscan biomineralization, focusing on the genes expressed in the mantle that encode secreted proteins. The so-called mantle secretome appears to regulate shell deposition and patterning and in some cases becomes part of the shell matrix. Recent transcriptomic and proteomic studies have revealed marked differences in the mantle secretomes of even closely-related molluscs; these typically exceed expected differences based on characteristics of the external shell. All mantle secretomes surveyed to date include novel genes encoding lineage-restricted proteins and unique combinations of co-opted ancient genes. A surprisingly large proportion of both ancient and novel secreted proteins containing simple repetitive motifs or domains that are often modular in construction. These repetitive low complexity domains (RLCDs) appear to further promote the evolvability of the mantle secretome, resulting in domain shuffling, expansion and loss. RLCD families further evolve via slippage and other mechanisms associated with repetitive sequences. As analogous types of secreted proteins are expressed in biomineralizing tissues in other animals, insights into the evolution of the genes underlying molluscan shell formation may be applied more broadly to understanding the evolution of metazoan biomineralization.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 14 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 170 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United Kingdom 1 <1%
Mexico 1 <1%
France 1 <1%
Belgium 1 <1%
Unknown 166 98%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 30 18%
Student > Ph. D. Student 29 17%
Student > Master 22 13%
Student > Bachelor 20 12%
Student > Doctoral Student 8 5%
Other 23 14%
Unknown 38 22%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 43 25%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 30 18%
Earth and Planetary Sciences 15 9%
Environmental Science 10 6%
Materials Science 5 3%
Other 23 14%
Unknown 44 26%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 18. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 20 February 2017.
All research outputs
#1,979,324
of 25,079,481 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in Zoology
#117
of 692 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#34,669
of 348,553 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Zoology
#3
of 15 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,079,481 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 92nd percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 692 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 20.7. This one has done well, scoring higher than 83% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 348,553 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 90% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 15 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 86% of its contemporaries.