Evolutionary topology of animal genomes: irreversible processes and novelty in macroevolution

Recent studies have highlighted the conservation of chromosomal and sub-chromosomal genomic organization that dates back to the last common ancestor of animals over 600 million years ago.

There are several key processes that have shaped animal genomes since, ranging from "algebraic" combinations of ancestral chromosomal units to complete chromosomal reshuffling in some clades. In both cases, newly formed chromosomal elements provided for a fresh landscape to evolve local gene linkages, many of which potentially constituting functional co-regulated units.

In this talk, I will highlight the latest results from our team that describe how such switches in "evolutionary topology" may be instrumental for shaping irreversible macro-evolutionary trends in animal genomes, characterizing the time-frame for the continuing evolution and emergence of local gene regulation.

In particular, I will share our latest results from cephalopod and cnidarian regulatory and structural genomics studies that aim to probe the functional landscape along evolutionarily diverse chromosomal elements.