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Cited by 445

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 11 of the 11 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Acoelomorph flatworms are deuterostomes related to Xenoturbella

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Philippe, Hervé, Brinkmann, Henner, Copley, Richard R., Moroz, Leonid L., Nakano, Hiroaki, Poustka, Albert J., Wallberg, Andreas, Peterson, Kevin J., Telford, Maximilian J.·2011·Nature
DOI 10.1038/nature09676
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Abstract

Xenoturbellida and Acoelomorpha are marine worms with contentious ancestry. Both were originally associated with the flatworms (Platyhelminthes), but molecular data have revised their phylogenetic positions, generally linking Xenoturbellida to the deuterostomes and positioning the Acoelomorpha as the most basally branching bilaterian group(s). Recent phylogenomic data suggested that Xenoturbellida and Acoelomorpha are sister taxa and together constitute an early branch of Bilateria. Here we assemble three independent data sets—mitochondrial genes, a phylogenomic data set of 38,330 amino-acid positions and new microRNA (miRNA) complements—and show that the position of Acoelomorpha is strongly affected by a long-branch attraction (LBA) artefact. When we minimize LBA we find consistent support for a position of both acoelomorphs and Xenoturbella within the deuterostomes. The most likely phylogeny links Xenoturbella and Acoelomorpha in a clade we call Xenacoelomorpha. The Xenacoelomorpha is the sister group of the Ambulacraria (hemichordates and echinoderms). We show that analyses of miRNA complements have been affected by character loss in the acoels and that both groups possess one miRNA and the gene Rsb66 otherwise specific to deuterostomes. In addition, Xenoturbella shares one miRNA with the ambulacrarians, and two with the acoels. This phylogeny makes sense of the shared characteristics of Xenoturbellida and Acoelomorpha, such as ciliary ultrastructure and diffuse nervous system, and implies the loss of various deuterostome characters in the Xenacoelomorpha including coelomic cavities, through gut and gill slits.

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Research works printed but not linked: 36

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Metadata

Authors
Philippe, H., Brinkmann, H., Copley, R. R., Moroz, L. L., Nakano, H., Poustka, A. J., Wallberg, A., Peterson, K. J., & Telford, M. J.
Venue
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2011-02
Volume
470
Issue
7333
Pages
255-258
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/nature09676
OpenAlex
W2016053029
Cited by
445
References
11
FWCI
30.39
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
green
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Acoelomorph flatworms are deuterostomes related to Xenoturbella. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1038/nature09676
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Philippe, H., Brinkmann, H., Copley, R. R., Moroz, L. L., Nakano, H., Poustka, A. J., Wallberg, A., Peterson, K. J., & Telford, M. J. (2011). Acoelomorph flatworms are deuterostomes related to Xenoturbella. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09676

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