"The anemone can therefore also help us to understand the origin and evolution of the multiple cell types making up the bodies and organs of animals, and particularly their nervous systems", sums up Heather Marlow. The cnidaria branch that anemones belong to separated from the bilateria branch, in other words from most other animals, including humans, over 600 million years ago. It also has another advantage – its strategic position in the tree of life. These similarities make the sea anemone an ideal model for studying the animal genome and understanding interactions existing between genes". " When the sea anemone genome was sequenced in 2007, scientists discovered that it was very similar to the human genome, both in terms of the number of genes (roughly 20,000) and its organization, explains Heather Marlow, a specialist in developmental biology in the (Epi)genomics of Animal Development Unit at the Institut Pasteur and the main author of this study. It is a small marine invertebrate that is easy to keep in the laboratory and whose genome is simple enough to study its workings and close enough to that of humans for conclusions to be drawn. The sea anemone Nematostella vectensis provides a perfect model for researchers – apart from its stinging tentacles perhaps. Their findings, which will add to discussions on how cells have diversified and developed into organs during evolution, have been published in the journal Cell. This surprising complexity was revealed when the researchers built a real cell atlas of the animal. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur, in collaboration with the CNRS and the Weizmann Institute of Science, have just discovered over a hundred different cell types in this small marine invertebrate as well as incredible neuronal diversity.
Despite its apparent simplicity – a tube-like body topped with tentacles –, the sea anemone is actually a highly complex creature.
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