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Topic: Xenoturbella

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	Xenoturbella - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Xenoturbella is a genus of bilaterian animals; it is a marine worm.
		Earlier it was suspected to be closely related to molluscs, but it turned out that the DNA test was contaminated with DNA from its food, which happened to be molluscs.
		Xenoturbella has a very simple body plan: it has no brain, no gut, no gonads, or any other defined organs; it has cilia and a diffuse nervous system.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Xenoturbella (169 words)

	Palaeos Invertebrates: Deuterostomia: Ambulacraria
		Xenoturbella is a completely unassuming little blob that seems to want nothing more in life than to wallow in the mud of the North Sea.
		So Xenoturbella was for the most part effectively swept under the rug until 1997, when two studies announced that it was a mollusk.
		Reisinger had suggested in 1960 that Xenoturbella might be derived from a neotenous deuterostome larva based on features of the nervous system, the enteropneust-like epidermis and the spermatozoa.
	www.palaeos.com /Invertebrates/Deuterostomia/80A000Ambulacraria.html (2048 words)

	Alternative News Network, Cairns, tropical north Queensland, Australia
		Genetic analysis has shown the worm, which was thought to belong to the group of molluscs that includes oysters and mussels, is in fact part of the same division of the animal kingdom as mankind and all other vertebrates.
		Previous research had suggested that Xenoturbella was a bivalve mollusc, the group containing oysters and mussels, and thus belonged to the trochozoa.
		Scientists are now to conduct a genetic comparison of Xenoturbella DNA with that from other species of deuterostomes, including human beings, to identify similarities that point towards the common ancestor.
	us.altnews.com.au /nuke/article.php?sid=5364 (505 words)

	Enigmatic worm identified as mankind's long lost relative
		This food comprised molluscs and when Xenoturbella was ground-up for study the food in its gut was also included, therefore contaminating its DNA and leaving scientists with the wrong impression that it was a mollusc.
		Xenoturbella is a delicate, ciliated, marine worm with a simple body plan: it lacks a through gut, organised gonads, excretory structures and body cavities.
		'Xenoturbella is a deuterostome that eats molluscs', by Sarah Bourlat, Claus Nielsen, Anne Lockyer, D Timothy, J Littlewood and Maximillian Telford.
	www.wellcome.ac.uk /doc_WTD002847.html (570 words)

	Our cousin, the worm (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-11)
		Cambridge scientists have recently discovered one of mankind's closest invertebrate relatives - a rare 3cm worm that resides in mud at the bottom of a Swedish fjord.
		The research, published in Nature this week, is the first conclusive proof that humans and the Xenoturbella worm, whose Latin name means strange flatworm, derive from a common ancestor, thereby placing Xenoturbella in the same division of the animal kingdom as man.
		Telford's colleague, Dr Sarah Bourlat, was able to purify Xenoturbella's DNA to shed new light on the origins of this much-neglected species.
	www.admin.cam.ac.uk /news/dp/2003082201 (386 words)

	Telegraph \| News \| Worm turns out to be one of man's closest relatives
		The research offers proof that humans and Xenoturbella, whose Latin name means strange flatworm, derive from a common ancestor that lived half a billion years ago, thereby placing Xenoturbella in the same division of the animal kingdom as man and offering new insights into how we evolved.
		His colleague, Dr Sarah Bourlat, was able to purify Xenoturbella's DNA and analysis of this material has shed new light on the origins of this much-neglected species.
		Earlier studies had revealed the genetic make-up of what Xenoturbella had eaten - molluscs - which is akin to classifying a person as a bag of chips, just because that was the last thing they ate.
	www.telegraph.co.uk /news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/08/21/worm21.xml (317 words)

	Letter to Science on Ruiz-Trillo et al. 1999 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-11)
		's argument is consideration of Xenoturbella bocki, an enigmatic worm of uncertain affinities.
		Xenoturbella was recently placed in just the position that Ruiz-Trillo et al.
		That Xenoturbella was proposed recently by M. Norén, U. Jondelius, and O. Israelsson (Nature 390, 31 [1997]) to be a mollusc (on the basis of molecular markers and on a character of oogenesis) is not reason enough to ignore it.
	www.umesci.maine.edu /Science/letter.htm (1173 words)

	Mudworms are close relatives (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-11)
		A DNA study has revealed that a worm found living at the bottom of a Swedish fjord shared an ancestor with Homo sapiens 500 million years ago.
		Xenoturbella, or "strange flatworm", is not immediately recognisable as a relative.
		Scientists previously thought it belonged to the same group as bivalve molluscs because it carried mollusc eggs, but in fact it had eaten them.
	www.investigatemagazine.com /_IDdisc2/0000004d.htm (295 words)

	Swedish worm a close relative of humans?
		An obscure 3 cm worm living in mud at the bottom of a Swedish fjord may be one of humankind's closest invertebrate relatives.
		As part of a larger Wellcome Trust-funded study into the evolutionary relationships of animals, a team led by Dr Max Telford from the University of Cambridge compared three key DNA sequences of the worm, Xenoturbella, with those of other creatures to determine its family relationships.
		Xenoturbella is a deuterostome that eats molluscs, Nature 424, 925-28 (21 August 2003)
	www.wellcome.ac.uk /doc_WTD003999.html (210 words)

	RedOrbit NEWS \| It's ugly? Well, this is your long-lost relative (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-11)
		Xenoturbella, whose Latin name means 'strange flatworm', was thought to be related to the mollusc family.
		Xenoturbella eats mollusc eggs and larvae, and the DNA from its food contaminated specimens that were examined, leading scientists to a false conclusion.
		When scientists purified xenoturbella DNA, they were surprised to find it was more closely related to human beings than shellfish.
	www.redorbit.com /modules/news/tools.php?tool=print&id=11747 (330 words)

	BBC NEWS \| Science/Nature \| Humans related to humble mud worm
		It does not have a brain or even sex organs and scientists are baffled about how the Xenoturbella procreates.
		The Xenoturbella was originally thought to be related to bivalve molluscs, such as mussels and oysters.
		The new research, reported in the journal Nature, puts humans and the Xenoturbella - whose Latin name means "strange flatworm" - together in the deuterostomes group of species, which contains the vertebrates, as well as starfish, sea urchins and certain marine worms.
	news.bbc.co.uk /2/hi/science/nature/3170245.stm (319 words)

	NAPC Abstracts, Hu - Iv
		Xenoturbella Westblad, 1949 is a strange marine animal (up to 4 cm long) with epithelial epidermis and gastrodermis, a basiepidermal nerve plexus and a ventral mouth, but without an anus, concentrated nervous system, or any other distinct organs except for a "statocyst" containing flagellated "statoconia." It is marine and not parasitic.
		Since its discovery, it has been the subject of most diverse interpretations: as one of the most primitive metazoans due to its simplicity in organization, as a primitive relative of acoelomorph flatworm, or as a paedomorphic holothurian or enteropneust.
		Xenoturbella is not an ancient group, a Cambrian relict.
	www.ucmp.berkeley.edu /napc/abs12.html (3826 words)

	Newswise
		In 1997, DNA tests suggested that Xenoturbella was, in fact, a bivalve mollusc.
		Mollusc-like DNA and eggs are present because Xenoturbella fed on molluscs, not because it was a mollusc.
		"Xenoturbella is no ordinary flower-girl, but arguably the most primitive extant member of the deuterostomes…the great group of animals to which we ourselves belong."
	www.newswise.com /articles/view/500580 (1987 words)

	Humans related to humble mud worm
		This brainless mud worm [Xenoturbella] is a long-lost relative of human beings, scientists have discovered.
		It appears the slug-like creature found living at the bottom of a Swedish lake shares its ancestry with people… Scientists hope studying the worm will give them a better understanding of vertebrate evolution.
		But what this research apparently shows is that Xenoturbella, like vertibrates, belong to a group called the deuterostomes, making them more closely related to vertibrates (and hence us) than to the bivalve molluscs, to which they were previously thought to be closely related.
	www.gruts.com /darwin/web/archive/2003-08.php?ref=21 (146 words)

	Young People's Trust for the Environment
		The slug-like worm lives at the bottom of a Swedish lake and, although it doesn’t have a brain or sex organs, the Xenoturbella shares its ancestry with humans.
		Although it was originally thought to be related to bivalve molluscs, such as mussels and oysters, researchers at Cambridge University are convinced it shares DNA with humans.
		The new research, reported in the journal Nature, puts humans and the Xenoturbella - which means "strange flatworm" in Latin - in the same group of species as starfish, sea urchins and some other marine worms.
	www.yptenc.org.uk /docs/dailygecko_news/archives/26.08.03.html (949 words)

	BioEd Online: Sea creature confused for its lunch (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-11)
		They conclude that the creature - called Xenoturbella bocki - is a worm.
		It is the most primitive existing member of the group to which humans belong, called the deuterostomes, the authors argue.
		A preference for sludgy sea habitats makes Xenoturbella difficult to find, so researchers can only guess at their numbers.
	www.bioedonline.org /news/news-print.cfm?art=424 (267 words)

	Palaeos Invertebrates: Deuterostomia: References
		Bourlat, SJ, C Nielsen, AE Lockyer, DTJ Littlewood and MJ Telford (2003), Xenoturbella is a deuterostome that eats molluscs.
		Helfenbein, KG, HM Fourcade, RG Vanjani and JL Boore (2004), The mitochondrial genome of Paraspadella gotoi is highly reduced and reveals that chaetognaths are a sister group to protostomes.
		Israelsson, O (1999), New light on the enigmatic Xenoturbella (phylum uncertain): ontogeny and phylogeny.
	www.palaeos.com /Invertebrates/Deuterostomia/Deuterostomia.Refs.html (558 words)

	UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News
		LONDON, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- British scientists have decided an enigmatic worm that resides at the bottom of a Swedish fjord is a relative to man.
		Long written off as an obscure mollusk, a rare 1.5 inch worm called Xenoturbella that lives in the mud is now considered a relative to humans, a report in the journal Nature said Thursday.
		A team led by Dr. Max Telford of Cambridge University made the discovery by investigating the genetic make-up of Xenoturbella.
	quickstart.clari.net /qs_se/webnews/wed/bs/Unewstrack-healthscience.R5nm_DaL.html (494 words)

	Ovid Technologies Field Guide (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-11)
		The eggs and embryos found in Xenoturbella have recently been interpreted as ingested prey.
		However, PCR on individual eggs as well as in situ hybridisation and in situ PCR unambiguously show that they are Xenoturbella's own.
		The cortical granules in oocytes and eggs from Xenoturbella but not Nucula stained positively with an antiserum against Reissner's substance.
	www.ovid.com /site/products/ovidguide/embodb.htm (2674 words)

	Worm turns out to be relative of mankind - Science - theage.com.au
		An enigmatic worm that resides in the mud at the bottom of a Swedish fjord was identified yesterday as mankind's long-lost relative, after being written off for years as an obscure mollusc.
		Scientists have discovered one of our closest relatives, among those that lack a backbone, in the shape of a rare three-centimetre worm called Xenoturbella, they report in the British journal Nature.
		A team led by Max Telford of Cambridge University made the discovery by investigating the complex genetic make-up of Xenoturbella.
	www.theage.com.au /articles/2003/08/22/1061529333658.html (226 words)

	Untitled Document (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-11)
		Specimens were preserved for histology and for molecular work (in ethanol and RNAlater).
		Among many other animals we collected live specimens of the enigmatic Xenoturbella bocki.
		The second annual meeting was held at the Kewalo Marine Lab, University of Hawaii from January 19-21, 2005.
	www.mcz.harvard.edu /Departments/InvertZoo/tol/progress.htm (444 words)

	Departament de Genètica. Universitat de Barcelona
		After a decade of intensive gene sequencing (namely the 18S ribosomal gene), the origin, radiation and relationships of lophotrochozoan phyla are still very poorly known.
		Prominent among them is the unsettled position of the Platyhelminthes (flatworms), Gastrotricha, Gnathostomulida and Xenoturbella.
		We follow a dual approach: 1) to sequence genes known to be good phylogenetic markers (e.g.
	www.ub.es /genetica/evo-devoen/bagunare.htm (628 words)

	Access Science Newsletter
		Learn how they take into account the hull construction, propulsion, control, and safety features of each vehicle.
		Xenoturbella (invertebrate systematics), by Dr. Sarah J. Bourlat, University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
		Learn about this unusually simple marine worm that inhabits the muddy ocean floors near Sweden and Norway and the challenges it has posed to scientists looking to place it in the phylogenetic family tree.
	www.accessscience.com /Newsletter/07_05_newsletter.html (974 words)

	Jean-Lou JUSTINE - Bibliographie de phylogénie des Plathelminthes, mai 2001
		Franzén, Å., and Afzelius, B. The ciliated epidermis of Xenoturbella bocki (Platyhelminthes, Xenoturbellida) with some phylogenetic considerations.
		Ultrastructure of the subepidermal musculature of Xenoturbella bocki, the adelphotaxon of the Bilateria.
		Raikova, O. I., Reuter, M., Jondelius, U., and Gustafsson, M. An immunocytochemical and ultrastructural study of the nervous and muscular systems of Xenoturbella westbladi (Bilateria inc. sed.).
	www.mnhn.fr /mnhn/bpph/zdoc/Evolution2001/Justine/Biblio2001.htm (1263 words)

	Changes in mitochondrial genetic codes as phylogenetic characters: Two examples from the flatworms -- Telford et al. 97 ...
		Studies of oogenesis (14) and Cox I and 18S rDNA data (15)
		have previously contradicted a platyhelminth affinity for Xenoturbella.
		Cox I nucleotide sequences from the flatworms, Xenoturbella, and a mesozoan, as well as a wide diversity of higher eukaryotes
	www.pnas.org /cgi/content/full/97/21/11359 (3583 words)

	Ulf Jondelius, Dept. Systematic Zoology, Uppsala
		Watson, N. and Jondelius, U. Spermiogenesis and sperm ultrastructure in Cylindrostoma fingalianum (Platyhelminthes, Prolecithophora) with notes on a protozoan (kinetoplastid) parasite closely associated with allosperm.
		Norén, M, and Jondelius, U. Xenoturbella's molluscan relatives.
		An immunocytochemical and ultrastructural study of the nervous and muscular systems of Xenoturbella westbladi (Bilateria).
	www.ebc.uu.se /systzoo/staff/jondelius.html (229 words)

	BrothersJudd Blog: DOESN'T THE XENOTURBELLA DESERVE AT LEAST FREEDOM OF THE PRESS? (via Bryan Francoeur):
		BrothersJudd Blog: DOESN'T THE XENOTURBELLA DESERVE AT LEAST FREEDOM OF THE PRESS?
		DOESN'T THE XENOTURBELLA DESERVE AT LEAST FREEDOM OF THE PRESS?
		To facilitate discussions in the comments, we require a name be submitted with your comments.
	www.brothersjudd.com /blog/archives/2006/04/doesnt_the_xeno.html (668 words)

	IB 120(4) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-11)
		Unciliated surface areas on the gills, labial palps, and foot are covered with a dense brushborder of microvilli.
		We observed no specific homologies between the cilia of the protobranchs studied and the epidermal cilia of the enigmatic Xenoturbella bocki, hence the recent hypothesis of a close connection of the latter to the protobranch bivalves is questioned.
		Additional key words: metazoan phylogeny, ciliary rootlets, Xenoturbella
	www.invertebratebiology.org /ib1204.php?action=1&artno=133 (166 words)

	BrothersJudd Blog: HOW'S THIS DIFFER FROM WHAT THEY WANT TO DO WITH THE GUYS AT GITMO?:
		BrothersJudd Blog: HOW'S THIS DIFFER FROM WHAT THEY WANT TO DO WITH THE GUYS AT GITMO?:
		« DOESN'T THE XENOTURBELLA DESERVE AT LEAST FREEDOM OF THE PRESS?
		TURNING YOUR COUNTRY INTO THE HOLLAND TUNNEL APPROACH SEEMS A DUBIOUS PROPOSITION: »
	www.brothersjudd.com /blog/archives/2006/04/hows_this_diffe.html (256 words)

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