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Evolutionary biology

Muscle's dual origins

Nature volume 487, pages 181–182 (2012)Cite this article

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Jellyfish move using a set of muscles that look remarkably similar to striated muscles in vertebrates. However, new data show that the two muscle types contain different molecules, implying that they evolved independently. See Letter p.231

Jellyfish engage in a unique mode of locomotion. They pump their umbrella-shaped bodies through a cyclical series of expansions and contractions, which requires musculature every bit as impressive as that used by an Olympic sprinter to break the latest world record. In fact, jellyfish muscles look almost identical to the striated muscle found in vertebrates, and for a long time many biologists have thought that the two shared an ancient evolutionary origin1,2. On page 231 of this issue3, Steinmetz et al. present evidence that this intricate musculature in fact evolved independently, at least twice.

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Figure 1: Movers and shakers.

References

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  1. Andreas Hejnol is at the Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, 5008 Bergen, Norway.,

    Andreas Hejnol

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  1. Andreas Hejnol
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Correspondence to Andreas Hejnol.

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Hejnol, A. Muscle's dual origins. Nature 487, 181–182 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/487181a

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