title: Back to the Basics: Cnidarians Start to Fire.
abstract: The nervous systems of cnidarians, pre-bilaterian animals that diverged close to the base of the metazoan radiation, are structurally simple and thus have great potential to reveal fundamental principles of neural circuits. Unfortunately, cnidarians have thus far been relatively intractable to electrophysiological and genetic techniques and consequently have been largely passed over by neurobiologists. However, recent advances in molecular and imaging methods are fueling a renaissance of interest in and research into cnidarians nervous systems. Here, we review current knowledge on the nervous systems of cnidarian species and propose that researchers should seize this opportunity and undertake the study of members of this phylum as strategic experimental systems with great basic and translational relevance for neuroscience.
authors.affiliation: University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany. Electronic address: tbosch@zoologie.uni-kiel.de.
authors.forename: Thomas C G
authors.initials: TCG
authors.lastname: Bosch
authors.affiliation: University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klimovich
authors.affiliation: Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia; Catholic University of Croatia, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Tomislav
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Domazet-Lošo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiology, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gründer
authors.affiliation: Centre for Organismal Studies, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Holstein
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Gáspár
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jékely
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, Townsville, Australia.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrea P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Murillo-Rincon
authors.affiliation: Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rentzsch
authors.affiliation: Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Norway; University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Gemma S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schröder
authors.affiliation: University of Vienna, Wien, Austria.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Technau
authors.affiliation: Neurotechnology Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: rafaelyuste@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yuste
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003063:Cnidaria / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D009420:Nervous System / Q000254:growth & development*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents
keywords: BRAIN Initiative; CRISPR; Hydra; Nematostella; imaging