Department of Biological Chemistry and the Developmental Biology Center, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
Trends Genet. 2011 Jan;27(1):7-13. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2010.10.002. Epub 2010 Nov 1.
Cnidarians (corals, anemones, jellyfish and hydras) are a diverse group of animals of interest to evolutionary biologists, ecologists and developmental biologists. With the publication of the genome sequences of Hydra and Nematostella, whose last common ancestor was the stem cnidarian, researchers are beginning to see the genomic underpinnings of cnidarian biology. Cnidarians are known for the remarkable plasticity of their morphology and life cycles. This plasticity is reflected in the Hydra and Nematostella genomes, which differ to an exceptional degree in size, base composition, transposable element content and gene conservation. It is now known what cnidarian genomes, given 500 million years, are capable of; as we discuss here, the next challenge is to understand how this genomic history has led to the striking diversity seen in this group.
刺胞动物门（珊瑚、海葵、水母和水螅）是一类对进化生物学家、生态学家和发育生物学家都很感兴趣的动物。随着 Hydra 和 Nematostella 基因组序列的发表，它们的最后共同祖先被认为是刺胞动物门的祖先进化支系，研究人员开始看到刺胞动物生物学的基因组基础。刺胞动物以其形态和生命周期的显著可塑性而闻名。这种可塑性反映在 Hydra 和 Nematostella 基因组中，它们在大小、碱基组成、转座元件含量和基因保守性方面差异极大。现在我们知道，如果给 5 亿年的时间，刺胞动物的基因组会有什么样的表现；正如我们在这里讨论的，下一个挑战是要了解这种基因组历史是如何导致该群体中出现如此惊人的多样性的。
