title: A molecular snapshot of the metazoan 'Eve'.
abstract: A description of the molecular make-up of the ancestral multicellular animal is emerging from the growing availability of molecular biological and biochemical data gleaned from the study of modern members of ancient groups of animals. We use the distributions of classes of transcription factors, signal transduction systems and other molecular innovations among metazoan phyla to infer some of the characteristics of the first animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Irvine 92717-1700.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Shenk
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Steele
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D003063:Cnidaria / Q000235:genetics*; D004330:Drosophila; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D008967:Molecular Biology; D010802:Phylogeny; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors