KEY PUBLICATIONS
The evolution of bilaterian nerve cords
It has been hypothesized 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 animal life cycles
The developmental mechanisms that facilitated the evolution of animal larvae are contested. By comparing gene expression and regulatory dynamics during annelid development, we show that changes in when the adult trunk forms correlate with and might explain the diversification of animal life cycles.
ERK1/2 and the spiralian organiser
How embryos with spiral cleavage specify the embryonic organiser that drives body patterning before gastrulation is unclear. Our study on the annelid Owenia fusiformis demonstrates that ERK1/2 together with FGF and Notch signalling is the ancestral mechanism to induce body patterning in Spiralia.
ALL PUBLICATIONS
2025
Sun Y, Qiu JW, Martín-Durán JM et al. (2025) The chromosomal genome sequence of the fan worm Protula sp. (Serpulidae, Sabellida) [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]. Wellcome Open Research 10:352
Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Haillot E, Mutiara Meha S, Luqman I, Pashaj A, Lee YJ, Lu TM, Ferrier DEK, Schneider SQ, Martín-Durán JM (2025) Developmental system drift in dorsoventral patterning is linked to transitions to autonomous development in Annelida. bioRxiv 2025.05.29.656861
Martín-Zamora FM, Cole J, Donnellan RD, Guynes K, Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Dickman MJ, Hurd PJ, Martín-Durán JM (2025) A dynamic histone-based chromatin regulatory toolkit underpins genome and developmental evolution in an invertebrate clade. Genome Biology, 26, 160
Goffredi SK, Appy R, Martín-Durán JM et al. (2025) The chromosomal genome sequence of the marine leech, Branchellion lobata Moore, 1952 and its associated microbial metagenome sequences [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]. Wellcome Open Research, 10:304
Yen EC, Gilbert JD, Balard A, Taxonera A, Fairweather K, Ford HL, Thorburn DMJ, Rossiter SJ, Martín-Durán JM, Eizaguirre C (2025) Chromosome-level genome assembly and methylome profile enables insights for the conservation of endangered loggerhead sea turtles. GigaScience, 14, 2025, giaf054
Martínez García A, Bonaglia S, Di Domenico M, Fonseca G, […], Worsaae K, Yamasaki H, Fontaneto D (2025) Fundamental questions in meiofauna – how small but ubiquitous animals can help to better understand Nature. Communications Biology, 8, 449
Wang D, Vannier J, Martín-Durán JM, Herranz M, Yu C (2025) Preservation and early evolution of scalidophoran ventral nerve cord. Science Advances, 11, eadr0896
2024
Liang Y, Wei J, Kang Y, Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Martín-Durán JM (2024) Cell fate specification modes shape transcriptome evolution in the highly conserved spiral cleavage. bioRxiv, 2024.12.25.630330
El Hilali S, Dru P, Le Moan A, Li YI, Huynen M, Hoelz A, Robinson RC, Martín-Durán JM, Jollivet D, Claridge-Chang A, Copley RR (2024) Chromosome-scale genome assembly and gene annotation of the hydrothermal vent annelid Alvinella pompejana yield insight into animal evolution in extreme environments. bioRxiv, 2024.06.25.600561
Vellutini BC, Martín-Durán JM, Hejnol A (2024) Combinatorial Wnt signaling landscape during brachiopod anteroposterior patterning. BMC Biology, 22, 212.
Yen EC, Gilbert JD, Balard A, Afonso IO, Fairweather K, Newlands D, Lopes A, Correia SM, Taxonera A, Rossiter SJ, Martín-Durán JM, Eizaguirre C (2024) DNA methylation carries signatures of sublethal effects under thermal stress in loggerhead sea turtles. Evolutionary Applications, 17: e70013.
Guynes K, Sarre LA, Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Davies BE, Xu L, Liang Y, Martín-Zamora FM, Hurd PJ, de Mendoza A, Martín-Durán JM (2024) Annelid methylomes reveal ancestral developmental and ageing-associated epigenetic erosion across Bilateria. Genome Biology, 25, 204.
Jimenez-Guri E, Paganos P, La Vecchia C, Annona G, Caccavale F, Molina MD, Ferrández-Roldán A, Donnellan RD, Salatiello F, Johnstone A, Eliso MC, Spagnuolo A, Cañestro C, Albalat R, Martín-Durán JM, Williams L, D’Aniello E, Arnone MI (2024) Developmental toxicity of pre-production plastic pellets affects a large swathe of invertebrate taxa. Chemosphere, 356:141887
Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Williams EA, Jékely G, Martín-Durán JM (2024) The development of the adult nervous system in the annelid Owenia fusiformis. Neural development, 19:3
2023
Liang Y#, Carrillo-Baltodano A#, Martín-Durán JM (2023) Emerging trends in the study of spiralian larvae. Evolution and Development, e12459. (#equally contributed)
Martín-Zamora FM, Davies BE, Donnella RD, Guynes K, Martín-Durán JM (2023) Functional genomics in Spiralia. Briefings in Functional Genomics, elad036
Goffredi S, Panossian B, Brzechffa C, Field N, King C, Moggioli G, Rouse GW, Martín-Durán JM, Henry L (2023) A dynamic epibiont community associated with the bone-eating polychaete genus Osedax. mBio, e03140-22
Zakas C, Martín-Durán JM (2023) Genomics of marine larval evolution and development. Integrative and Comparative Biology, icad108
Moggioli G, Panossian B, Sun Y, Thiel D, Martín-Zamora FM, Tran M, Clifford AM, Goffredi SK, Rimskaya-Korsakova N, Jékely G, Tresguerres M, Qian P-Y, Qiu J-W, Rouse GW, Henry LM, Martín-Durán JM (2023) Distinct genomic routes underlie transitions to specialised symbiotic lifestyles in deep-sea annelid worms. Nature Communications 14, 2814.
Gąsiorowski L, Martín-Durán JM, Hejnol A (2023) The evolution of Hox genes in Spiralia. In “Hox modules in evolution and development”. Ed David EK Ferrier. Taylor and Francis Group.
Martín-Zamora FM#, Liang Y#, Guynes K, Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Davies BE, Donnellan RD, Tan Y, Moggioli G, Seudre O, Tran M, Mortimer K, Luscombe N, Hejnol A, Marlétaz F, Martín-Durán JM (2023) Annelid functional genomics reveal the origins of bilaterian life cycles. Nature 615, 105–110 (#equally contributed)
2022
Seudre O#, Carrillo-Baltodano AM#, Liang Y, Martín-Durán JM (2022) ERK1/2 is an ancestral organising signal in spiral cleavage. Nature Communications 13, 2286 #Equally contributed
Seudre O, Martín-Zamora FM, Rapisarda V, Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Martín-Durán JM (2022). The Fox gene repertoire in the annelid Owenia fusiformis reveals multiple expansions of the foxQ2 class in Spiralia. Genome Biology and Evolution, 14:evac139.
2021
McKenna V, Archibald JM, Beinart R, Dawson MN, Hentschel U, Keeling PJ, Lopez JV, Martín-Durán JM, Petersen JM, Sigwart JD, Simakov O, Sutherland KR, Sweet M, Talbot N, Thompson AW, Bender S, Harrison PW, Rajan J, Cochrane G, Berriman M, Lawniczak M, Blaxter M (2021) The Aquatic Symbiosis Genomics Project: probing the evolution of symbiosis across the tree of life. Wellcome Open Research 6:254
Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Seudre O, Guynes K, Martín-Durán JM (2021) Early embryogenesis and organogenesis in the annelid Owenia fusiformis. EvoDevo 12:5
2020
Martín-Durán JM, Vellutini BC, Marlétaz F, Cetrangolo V, Cvetesic N, Thiel D, Henriet S, Grau-Bové X, Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Gu W, Kerbl A, Marquez Y, Bekkouche N, Chourrout D, Gómez-Skarmeta JL, Irimia M, Lenhard B, Worsaae K, Hejnol A (2020) Conservative route to genome compaction in a miniature annelid. Nature Ecology and Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01327-6
Martín-Durán JM, Marlétaz F (2020) Unravelling spiral cleavage. Development 147, dev181081
2019
Conti D, Gul P, Islam A, Martín-Durán JM, Pickersgill RW, Draviam VM (2019) Kinetochores attached to microtubule-ends are stabilised by Astrin bound PP1 to ensure proper chromosome segregation. eLife 8, e49325
Martín-Durán JM, Hejnol A (2019) A developmental perspective on the evolution of the nervous system. Developmental Biology
Drinnenberg IA, Berger F, Elsässer SJ, Andersen PR, Ausió J, Bickmore WA, Blackwell AR, Erwin DH, Gahan JM, Gaut BS, Harvey ZH, Henikoff S, Kao JY, Kurdistani SK, Lemos B, Levine MT, Luger K, Malik HS, Martín-Durán JM, Peichel CL, Renfree MB, Rutowicz K, Sarkies P, Schmitz RJ, Technau U, Thornton JW, Warnecke T, Wolfe KH (2019) EvoChromo: towards a synthesis of chromatin biology and evolution. Development 146, dev178962
Hogvall M, Vellutini BC, Martín-Durán JM, Hejnol A, Budd GE, Jansen R (2019) Embryonic expression of priapulid Wnt genes. Development Genes and Evolution 4:125-135
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 47:D812-D820
Martín-Durán JM (2018) General principles of planarian embryogenesis and its analysis by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry methods. Methods in Molecular Biology 1774:405-421
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