Research areas
We aim to understand how the diversity of form in the animal kingdom evolved. The focus of our research is the connection between the evolution of animal genome organisation and development, with a particular concentration on the homeobox-containing genes. The Hox gene cluster is established as a corner-stone of Evolutionary Developmental Biology, but much about the evolution of its organisation and mode of operation remains unknown. Also the Hox cluster is not unique as a homeobox gene cluster controlling animal development, further clusters being the ParaHox and NK clusters, all of which evolved within larger arrays of homeobox genes (the Mega-cluster and Super-Hox cluster). We utilize a variety of organisms in our research (including amphioxus, sea squirts, polychaetes and priapulids), chosen from key points in the phylogeny of the animals to enable reconstruction of the ancestral conditions at major nodes in the animal kingdom; the origin of bilaterians, protostomes, deuterostomes, chordates and vertebrates.
lab website: https://synergy.st-andrews.ac.uk/edge/
PhD supervision
- Anastasia Ellis
- Jasmine Walker
Selected publications
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Open access
Amphioxus muscle transcriptomes reveal vertebrate-like myoblast fusion genes and a highly conserved role of insulin signalling in the metabolism of muscle
Aase-Remedios, M. E., Coll-Lladó, C. & Ferrier, D. E. K., 1 Feb 2022, In: BMC Genomics. 23, 21 p., 93.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Evolutionary diversification of the canonical Wnt signaling effector TCF/LEF in chordates
Torres-Aguila, N. P., Salonna, M., Hoppler, S. & Ferrier, D. E. K., 28 Apr 2022, In: Development, Growth & Differentiation. 64, 3, p. 120-137 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Genome of the rams horn snail Biomphalaria straminea: an obligate intermediate host of schistosomiasis
Nong, W., Yu, Y., Aase-Remedios, M. E., Xie, Y., So, W. L., Li, Y., Wong, C. F., Baril, T., Law, S., Lai, S. Y., Haimovitz, J., Swale, T., Chen, S., Kai, Z., Sun, X., Wu, Z., Hayward, A., Ferrier, D. E. K. & Hui, J., 15 Feb 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) In: GigaScience. 11, 13 p., giac012.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Gill transcriptomic responses to toxin-producing alga Prymnesium parvum in rainbow trout
Clinton, M., Król, E., Sepúlveda, D., Andersen, N. R., Brierley, A. S., Ferrier, D. E. K., Hansen, P. J., Lorenzen, N. & Martin, S. A. M., 8 Dec 2021, In: Frontiers in Immunology. 12, 17 p., 794593.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Impacts of jellyfish on marine cage aquaculture: an overview of existing knowledge and the challenges to finfish health
Clinton, M., Ferrier, D. E. K., Martin, S. A. M. & Brierley, A. S., Aug 2021, In: ICES Journal of Marine Science. 78, 5, p. 1557–1573Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
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Open access
Improved understanding of the role of gene and genome duplications in chordate evolution with new genome and transcriptome sequences
Aase-Remedios, M. E. & Ferrier, D. E. K., 29 Jun 2021, In: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 9, 15 p., 703163.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
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Open access
Sampling the fish gill microbiome: a comparison of tissue biopsies and swabs
Clinton, M., Wyness, A. J., Martin, S. A. M., Brierley, A. S. & Ferrier, D. E. K., 10 Nov 2021, In: BMC Microbiology. 21, 15 p., 313.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
The Nereid on the rise: Platynereis as a model system
Özpolat, B. D., Randel, N., Williams, E., Bezares-Calderon, L. A., Andreatta, G., Balavoine, G., Bertucci, P., Ferrier, D. E. K., Gambi, M. C., Gazave, E., Handberg-Thorsager, M., Hardege, J., Hird, C., Hsieh, Y-W., Hui, J., Nzumbi Mutemi, K., Schneider, S., Simakov, O., Vergara, H., Vervoort, M., Jékely, G., Tessmar-Raible, K., Raible, F. & Arendt, D., 27 Sep 2021, In: EvoDevo. 12, 22 p., 10.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
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Open access
MicroRNA clusters integrate evolutionary constraints on expression and target affinities: the miR-6/5/4/286/3/309 cluster in Drosophila
Qu, Z., Yiu, W. C., Yip, H. Y., Nong, W., Yu, C. W. C., Lee, I. H. T., Wong, A. Y. P., Wong, N. W. Y., Cheung, F. K. M., Chan, T. F., Lau, K. F., Zhong, S., Chu, K. H., Tobe, S. S., Ferrier, D. E. K., Bendena, W. G. & Hui, J. H. L., Oct 2020, In: Molecular Biology and Evolution. 37, 10, p. 2955-2965 msaa146.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Molecular identification of potential aquaculture pathogens adherent to cnidarian zooplankton
Clinton, M., Kintner, A. H., Delannoy, C., Brierley, A. S. & Ferrier, D. E. K., 15 Mar 2020, In: Aquaculture. 518, 8 p., 734801.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review