ArticleCommunications biology2025
Anterior-posterior patterning in the chaetognath Spadella cephaloptera informs bilaterian nervous system and tail evolution.
Article in Communications biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Glycans in adhesion and fertilization: histochemical and ultrastructural insights from the chaetognath Spadella cephaloptera.Frontiers in zoology · 2026Article
- Early nervous system development in the chaetognathFrontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Article
- Anterior-posterior patterning in the chaetognath Spadella cephaloptera informs bilaterian nervous system and tail evolution.Communications biology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The formation of the bilaterian anterior-posterior axis relies on deeply conserved patterning systems, yet how these evolved remains incompletely understood. As sister to or within Gnathifera, chaetognaths provide an informative phylogenetic context for investigating anterior-posterior patterning, yet their developmental genetics remain poorly studied. Here, we examine anterior patterning (otx, nk2.1, six3/6) and Hox gene expression in the chaetognath Spadella cephaloptera. Anterior patterning genes are expressed in cerebral neural regions as in other bilaterians. In contrast, Hox genes, including the previously undescribed med6, postC, and postD, show staggered expression along the nervous system, resembling the proposed ancestral bilaterian condition. Posterior Hox genes are also expressed in the postanal tail, a trait only present in chaetognaths and chordates, suggesting a link between Hox expansion and the independent emergence of this structure. Our results indicate that chaetognaths retain ancestral bilaterian features and provide insights into Hox-driven lineage-specific innovations within Spiralia.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.