Seb Shimeld

Research Interests

Research at the interface of Evolutionary and Developmental Biology has seen a major Renaissance in recent years, fuelled by the development of molecular methods applicable to a wide range of organisms and by the rapidly-expanding potential of comparative genomics as more and more genomes are sequenced. Research in my laboratory is focused on understanding major transitions in animal evolution and the origins of animal morphological diversity. This includes studies at several levels of biological organisation, from anatomy, embryology and developmental biology to genes, genome organisation and molecular evolution. A principal aim is to determine how the evolution of genes and their organisation underlies the evolution of new morphological features. Within this broad theme several different projects are currently underway in my laboratory involving a wide range of study organisms, from sponges, molluscs and worms to sea squirts, lampreys and dogfish.

For more details on my research please see http://users.ox.ac.uk/~zool0615/SebShimeld.htm.

Other Interests

I serve on the Editorial Board of Developmental Dynamics and Faculty of 1000, and am a member of the BBSRC CoSyst committee.

Contacts

Websites

• http://users.ox.ac.uk/~zool0615/SebShimeld.htm

Selected Publications

• Shimeld, S.M., van den Heuvel, M., Dawber, R. and Brisco, J. (2007) An Amphioxus Gli Gene Reveals Conservation of Midline Patterning and the Evolution of Hedgehog Signalling Diversity in Chordates. PLoS ONE 9: e864.
• Wotton, K. and Shimeld, S.M. (2006). Comparative genomics of vertebrate Fox cluster loci. BMC Genomics 7: 271.
• Mazet, F., Amemiya, C. and Shimeld, S. M. (2006). An ancient Fox gene cluster in the Bilateria. Current Biology 16: R314-R316.
• Shimeld, S. M. and Levin, M. (2006). Evidence for the regulation of left-right asymmetry in Ciona by ion flux. Dev Dynamics 235: 1543-1553.
• Shimeld, S.M., Purkiss, A.G., Dirks, R.P.H., Bateman, O.A, Slingsby, C. and Lubsen, N.H. (2005). Urochordate ßγ-crystallin and the evolutionary origin of the vertebrate eye lens. Current Biology, 15: 1684-1689.
• Larroux, C., Luke, G.N., Koopman, P., Rokhsar, D.S., Shimeld, S.M. and Degnan, B.M. (2008). Genesis and expansion of metazoan transcription factor gene classes Mol Biol Evol 25:980-96.