The establishment of forward genetics in S. rosetta reveals the first gene known to be required for choanoflagellate multicellular development.

A genetic screen reveals that two predicted glycosyltransferases promote rosette development and prevent cell clumping in one of the closest living relatives of animals, the choanoflagellate S. rosetta.

Genome editing in the choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta opens newfound possibilities to functionally probe choanoflagellate genes that may illuminate the origin of their closest relatives, the animals.