The insect odorant receptor gene family evolved at the base of the class Insecta before the evolution of flight and perhaps as an adaptation to terrestriality, and was therefore an important evolutionary novelty for insects.
A comparative approach shows that developmental evolution of neuropeptidergic neuronal groups in the hypothalamus of blind cavefish drives adaptive behavioral evolution.
Analysing developing mouse kidneys demonstrates nephron formation does not significantly impact branching morphogenesis of the ureteric bud, suggesting this process is distinct from branching in organs like the mammary gland.
Experiments in genetically modified zebrafish that are unable to produce norepinephrine show that this neurotransmitter promotes wakefulness by mediating the effects of the neuropeptide hypocretin.
Genetic experiments in zebrafish identify neuropeptide VF (NPVF) signaling and NPVF-expressing neurons as a novel vertebrate hypothalamic sleep-promoting system that is functionally conserved with invertebrates.
Chaperoning defects in axonemal dynein subunits trigger proteostatic clearance of dynein motors opening up the possibility of trialling proteostasis modulators to treat the motile ciliopathy primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD).
CenH3, the defining component of centromeres in almost all eukaryotes, was independently lost in four insect lineages that transitioned from monocentricity to holocentricity.
