Genetic robustness, or the ability of an organism to maintain fitness in the presence of harmful
mutations, can be achieved via protein feedback loops. Previous work has suggested that …

Accurately dating when the first bilaterally symmetrical animals arose is crucial to our
understanding of early animal evolution. The earliest unequivocally bilaterian fossils are ≈555 …

After fertilization, maternal factors direct development and trigger zygotic genome activation (ZGA)
at the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT). In zebrafish, ZGA is required for …

Early embryonic development is driven exclusively by maternal gene products deposited into
the oocyte. Although critical in establishing early developmental programs, maternal gene …

RNA folding plays a crucial role in RNA function. However, knowledge of the global
structure of the transcriptome is limited to cellular systems at steady state, thus hindering the …

Posttranscriptional regulation plays a crucial role in shaping gene expression. During the
maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT), thousands of maternal transcripts are regulated. However, …

Gene expression is extensively regulated at the levels of mRNA stability, localization and
translation. However, decoding functional RNA-regulatory features remains a limitation to …

The evolutionarily conserved Wnt/Wingless signal transduction pathway directs cell
proliferation, cell fate, and cell death during development in metazoans and is inappropriately …

We have identified an NK2 family homeodomain transcription factor, SpNK2.1, in the sea
urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus whose transcripts are initially detected within the apical …

microRNAs (miRNAs) encode small RNA molecules of ∼22nts in length that regulate the
deadenylation, translation, and decay of their target mRNAs. The identification of miRNAs in …