Identification and characterization of the protein coding genes that direct calcified tube formation in the polychaete Spirorbis spirorbis.

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A wide range of multicellular animals form calcified structures. Although the molecular mechanisms that form these biominerals have different evolutionary histories, it appears that different taxa share some components of a genetic toolkit for biomineralization. Understanding the evolutionary origins of these genetic components, and how they functionally operate, is of great importance to metazoan evolutionary biology. To date, most attention has focused on vertebrates, echinoderms, and molluscs. However, in order to clarify how the metazoan capacity to biomineralize originated, it is pivotal to study and characterize the ‘skeletogenetic toolkits’ from a range of taxa across the animal kingdom. Many species within the Phylum Annelida form calcified tubes, and an extensive fossil record testifies that they have long done so. However, the genetic and molecular mechanisms of calcification have never been described for any annelid species. I propose to conduct the first molecular analysis of biomineralization in a polychaete annelid, the tube worm Spirorbis spirorbis. This project integrates with parallel projects concerning molluscan biomineralization led by the proposed host, and will greatly broaden the comparative knowledge base of lophotrochozoan biomineralization strategies. This project will therefore shed light on the evolution of biomineralization within the Lophotrochozoa and the Metazoa in general.