Evolutionary rewiring of the endomesoderm gene regulatory networks specify skeleton secreting cells in stony corals
, a distantly related species that does not produce a skeleton. These findings support a novel dual role of the endomesodermal GRN in establishing germ layer identity and specifying skeleton secreting cells in stony corals and provide a gene-regulatory framework that underpins the evolution and diversification of stony corals from other cnidarian lineages.
Authors
- Nicole D. Fogarty (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3811-3791)
- Jacob F. Warner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9197-1587)
- Leslie S. Babonis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9783-4882)
- Koty Sharp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6762-7682)
- Ryan M. Besemer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7407-3910)
- Sarah E. Arnold (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5383-148X)
- Laura Slama
Institutions
- University of North Carolina Wilmington (US)
- Cornell University (US)
- Roger Williams University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Published
- 2026-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.31.715602
- Primary Topic
- Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- North Carolina Biotechnology Center
- Nature
- National Institutes of Health