{"id":464662,"date":"2026-02-09T23:48:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T23:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/464662\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T23:48:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T23:48:07","slug":"the-evolution-of-vertebrates-sheds-light-on-disease-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/464662\/","title":{"rendered":"The evolution of\u202fvertebrates sheds light on disease prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"

A harlequin poison dart frog (Oophaga sylvatica) is pictured at the Tesoros de Colombia (Treasures of Colombia) sustainable farm in Nocaima, Cundinamarca department, Colombia, on July 9, 2024. Hundreds of exotic frogs are bred in a sustainable farm to then be sold to foreign collectors as a “practical solution” against their illegal trafficking. – Copyright AFP\/File Jean-Christophe VERHAEGEN<\/p>\n

New research from the University of St Andrews (Scotland) has\u202fdiscovered an important piece in the\u202fpuzzle\u202fof\u202fhow all vertebrate animals (with a spine) \u2013 including all mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians \u2013 evolved.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n

Here, the researchers\u202ffound an intriguing pattern<\/a> of gene evolution\u202fwhich\u202fappears to be\u202fsignificant for the origin and diversification of vertebrates.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n

Signalling pathways<\/p>\n

All animals have\u202fmajor signalling pathways that\u202ftheir cells use\u202fto\u202fcommunicate with each other,\u202fwhich\u202fcontrol things like how their embryos and organs\u202fdevelop.\u202fThese signalling\u202fpathways\u202fare fundamental\u202fto animal development and\u202fare major targets in disease-causing mutations\u202fand\u202ffor\u202fthe development of pharmaceuticals.\u202f\u202fProteins at the base of these signalling pathways are key as they control the\u202ffinal output from\u202fthem, like a traffic system, directing\u202fcells\u202finto specific responses and gene expression.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n

Gene sequencing<\/p>\n

The researchers created\u202fnew\u202fgene\u202fsequencing data<\/a> in\u202fsea\u202fsquirts, a lamprey and a type of frog. Through the analysis, they found the\u202fgenes that make these signalling output proteins\u202fhave\u202fevolved in a distinctive way.\u202f<\/p>\n

The sea squirt is\u202fan\u202finvertebrate that helped\u202fto\u202fdistinguish the change when moving from invertebrates to vertebrates.\u202f<\/p>\n

Lampreys are an early branch in the vertebrate group, which\u202fpinpoints\u202fthat this\u202fchange\u202fhappened\u202fat the invertebrate-to-vertebrate transition.\u202f<\/p>\n

Frogs will be well known to readers: Carnivorous amphibians characterised by smooth, moist skin, long hind legs for leaping, and a reliance on damp habitats. They are crucial to ecosystems, feeding on invertebrates like snails and worms.<\/p>\n

Researchers used\u202flong-molecule DNA sequencing, which allowed\u202fthem\u202fto distinguish the different transcripts from each gene.\u202fLong-molecule sequencing\u202fhad never been\u202fdone\u202fon\u202fthe genes expressed in\u202fthese\u202fparticular\u202fanimals\u202fbefore.\u202fTherefore,\u202fresearchers were able\u202fto\u202fcharacterise\u202fthe real range of the transcripts\u202fand\u202fproteins produced from these genes in vertebrate development\u202ffor the first time\u202fever.\u202f<\/p>\n

Unlike the\u202finvertebrate\u202fsea squirt, the lamprey and frog\u202fmade\u202fhigher numbers of different\u202fforms\u202fof proteins from\u202fthe\u202findividual\u202fsignalling output\u202fgenes,\u202fcompared\u202fto\u202fall sorts of other types of genes.\u202f\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n

This\u202fsignificant change\u202fwith the evolution\u202fof vertebrates is\u202fvery striking. Given the importance of these pathways in how\u202fanimals\u202fdecide\u202fwhat types of cells,\u202ftissues\u202fand organs to make, it is\u202fhighly likely\u202fthese proteins\u202fhave had\u202fa\u202fmajor\u202frole\u202fin\u202fmaking vertebrates (animals with\u202fbackbones) different and more complex than\u202finvertebrates.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n

The researchers were surprised how a small selection of very particular genes stood out in the way that they are behaving compared to any other sort of gene examined. These diverse protein\u202fvariations not only shed light on the origins of how humans, and most other animals\u202fwith\u202fbackbones,\u202fhave\u202fevolved.<\/p>\n

The research will also be important for understanding\u202fhow\u202fthese\u202fproteins and\u202fpathways could be manipulated\u202fin disease management.\u202f<\/p>\n

The findings appear in<\/a> the journal BMC Biology. research paper is titled \u201cLong read sequencing reveals increased isoform diversity in key transcription factor effectors of intercellular signalling at the invertebrate vertebrate transition.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A harlequin poison dart frog (Oophaga sylvatica) is pictured at the Tesoros de Colombia (Treasures of Colombia) sustainable…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,8745,7820,4779,58822,66,61,189722],"class_list":["post-464662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-disease","tag-evolution","tag-nature","tag-proteins","tag-science","tag-technology","tag-vertebrates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}