Project description:BackgroundXenoturbella is a group of marine benthic animals lacking an anus and a centralized nervous system. Molecular phylogenetic analyses group the animal together with the Acoelomorpha, forming the Xenacoelomorpha. This group has been suggested to be either a sister group to the Nephrozoa or a deuterostome, and therefore it may provide important insights into origins of bilaterian traits such as an anus, the nephron, feeding larvae and centralized nervous systems. However, only five Xenoturbella species have been reported and the evolutionary history of xenoturbellids and Xenacoelomorpha remains obscure.ResultsHere we describe a new Xenoturbella species from the western Pacific Ocean, and report a new xenoturbellid structure - the frontal pore. Non-destructive microCT was used to investigate the internal morphology of this soft-bodied animal. This revealed the presence of a frontal pore that is continuous with the ventral glandular network and which exhibits similarities with the frontal organ in acoelomorphs.ConclusionsOur results suggest that large size, oval mouth, frontal pore and ventral glandular network may be ancestral features for Xenoturbella. Further studies will clarify the evolutionary relationship of the frontal pore and ventral glandular network of xenoturbellids and the acoelomorph frontal organ. One of the habitats of the newly identified species is easily accessible from a marine station and so this species promises to be valuable for research on bilaterian and deuterostome evolution.
Project description:After publication of Nakano et al. (2017) [1], the authors became aware of the fact that the new species-group name erected for the two specimens of a Japanese xenoturbellid species in the article is not available because Nakano et al. (2017) [1] does not meet the requirement of the amendment of Article 8.5.3 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (the Code) [2]. The authors therefore describe the two xenoturbellids as a new species again in this correction article. Methods for morphological observation, DNA extraction and sequencing were as described in Nakano et al. (2017) [1]. The holotype and paratype specimens are deposited in the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba (NSMT), Japan. The DNA sequences obtained were deposited in the International Nucleotide Sequence Database (INSD).
Project description:Primary objectives: The primary objective is to investigate circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) via deep sequencing for mutation detection and by whole genome sequencing for copy number analyses before start (baseline) with regorafenib and at defined time points during administration of regorafenib for treatment efficacy in colorectal cancer patients in terms of overall survival (OS).
Primary endpoints: circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) via deep sequencing for mutation detection and by whole genome sequencing for copy number analyses before start (baseline) with regorafenib and at defined time points during administration of regorafenib for treatment efficacy in colorectal cancer patients in terms of overall survival (OS).
