Key Publications

the evolution of bilaterian nerve cords
It has been hypothesized that a condensed nervous system with a medial ventral nerve cord is an ancestral character of Bilateria. However, our data suggest that the similarities in dorsoventral patterning and trunk neuroanatomies evolved independently in Bilateria.

The evolution of deuterostomy & protostomy
The developmental association of the mouth to the blastopore has influenced our view of bilaterian evolution. Our study shows that the developmental relationship of mouth and blastopore is a secondary by-product of variations in axial and mesoderm development.

Deuterostomic development in priapulid worms
The absence of information on the fate of blastopore in key taxa has hampered the reconstruction of the ancestral gastrulation mode in Bilateria. Our study on priapulid worms indicate that deuterostomic and not protostomic development was ancestral to Bilateria.
ALL PUBLICATIONS
2018
Rozanski A, Moon HK, Brandl H, Martín-Durán JM, Grohme MA, Hüttner K, Bartscherer K, Henry I, Rink JC (2018) PlanMine 3.0—improvements to a mineable resource of flatworm biology and biodiversity. Nucleic Acids Research gky1070
Martín-Durán JM, Pang K, Børve A, Semmler-Lê H, Furu A, Cannon JT, Jondelius U, Hejnol A (2018) Convergent evolution of bilaterian nerve cords. Nature 553:45-50
2017
Martín-Durán JM, Ryan JF, Vellutini BC, Pang K, Hejnol A (2017) Increased taxon sampling reveals thousands of hidden orthologs in flatworms. Genome Research 27:1263-1272
Vellutini BC, Martín-Durán JM, Hejnol A (2017) Cleavage modification did not alter early blastomere fates during bryozoan evolution. BMC Biology 15:33
Schiemann SM, Martín-Durán JM, Børve A, Vellutini BC, Passamaneck YJ, Hejnol A (2017) Clustered brachiopod Hox genes are not expressed collinearly and are associated with lophotrochozoan novelties. Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences USA 14:E1913-E1922
2016
Martín-Durán JM, Passamaneck YJ, Martindale MQ, Hejnol A (2016) The developmental basis for the recurrent evolution of deuterostomy and protostomy. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1:0005
Sureda M, Martín-Durán JM, Adell T (2016) Localization of planarian bCATENIN-1 reveals multiple roles during anterior-posterior regeneration and organogenesis. Development 143:4149-4160
Kerbl A, Martín-Durán JM, Worsaae K, Hejnol A (2016) Molecular regionalization in the compact brain of the meiofaunal annelid Dinophilus gyrociliatus (Dinophilidae). EvoDevo 7:20.
Martín-Durán JM, Vellutini BC, Hejnol A (2016) Embryonic chirality and the evolution of spiralian left-right asymmetries. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 371:20150411
Barberán S, Martín-Durán JM, Cebrià F (2016) Evolution of the EGFR pathway in Metazoa and its diversification in the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. Scientific Reports 6:28071
2015
Martín-Durán JM, Wolff GH, Strausfeld N, Hejnol A (2015) The larval nervous system of the penis worm Priapulus caudatus (Ecdysozoa). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 371:20150050.
Martín-Durán JM, Vellutini BC, Hejnol A (2015) Evolution and development of the adelphophagic, intracapsular Schmidt’s larva of the nemertean Lineus ruber. EvoDevo 6:28
Martín-Durán JM, Hejnol A (2015) The study of Priapulus caudatus reveals conserved molecular patterning underlying different gut morphogenesis in the Ecdysozoa. BMC Biology 13:29
Hejnol A, Martín-Durán JM (2015) Getting to the bottom of anal evolution. Zoologischer Anzeiger 256:61-74
2014
Grande C, Martín-Durán JM, Kenny NJ, Truchado-García M, Hejnol A (2014) Evolution, divergence and loss of the Nodal signalling pathway: new data and a synthesis across the Bilateria. International Journal of Developmental Biology 58:521-532
2013
Martín-Durán JM, de Mendoza A, Sebé-Pedrós A, Ruiz-Trillo I, Hejnol A (2013) A broad genomic survey reveals multiple origins and frequent losses in the evolution of respiratory hemerythrins and hemocyanins. Genome Biology & Evolution 5:1435-1442
2012
Martín-Durán JM, Janssen R, Wennberg S, Budd GE, Hejnol A (2012) Deuterostomic development in the protostome Priapulus caudatus. Current Biology 22:2161-2166
Martín-Durán JM, Egger B (2012) Developmental diversity in free-living flatworms. EvoDevo 3:7
Martín-Durán JM, Monjo F, Romero R (2012) Morphological and molecular development of the eyes during embryogenesis of the freshwater planarian Schmidtea polychroa. Development Genes & Evolution 222:45-54
Martín-Durán JM, Monjo F, Romero R (2012) Planarian embryology in the era of comparative developmental biology. International Journal of Developmental Biology 56:39-48
2011
Irimia M, Denuc A, Burguera D, Somorjai I, Martín-Durán JM, Genikhovich G, Jimenez-Delgado S, Technau U, Roy SW, Marfany G, Garcia-Fernàndez J (2011) Stepwise assembly of the Nova-regulated alternative splicing network in the vertebrate brain. Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences USA 108:5319-5324
Martín-Durán JM, Romero R (2011) Evolutionary implications of morphogenesis and molecular patterning of the blind gut in the planarian Schmidtea polychroa. Developmental Biology 352:164-176
2010
Martín-Durán JM, Amaya E, Romero R (2010) Germ layer specification and axial patterning in the embryonic development of the freshwater planarian Schmidtea polychroa. Developmental Biology 340:145-158
2008
Martín-Durán JM, Duocastella M, Serra P, Romero R (2008) New method to deliver exogenous material into developing planarian embryos. Journal of Experimental Zoology (Molecular & Developmental Evolution) 310B:668-681