Dr Chema Martin Duran
Reader in Organismal Biology
School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences
Queen Mary University of London
Queen Mary University of London
Research
EvoDevo, Animal embryology, Evolutionary biology, Comparative genomics, Epigenomics
Interests
My research aims to understand how animal embryogenesis works and evolves to eventually produce major phenotypic transitions, such as new modes of gastrulation, different trunk neuroarchitectures and distinct life cycles. My lab applies comparative, interdisciplinary approaches, from genomics and epigenomics to developmental and cellular biology, to investigate how spiral cleavage, an ancestral mode of animal embryogenesis, is controlled and generates phenotypic evolution. To do so, we study multiple species of marine annelid worms, some of which we have established as new tractable research species. In particular, we study how different strategies to specify the first progenitor cells during early embryogenesis (i.e., mosaic and regulative development) emerge and the mechanisms that cause developmental system drift and heterochronic shifts during animal embryogenesis, using the specification of the dorsoventral axis and the formation of the trunk as representative examples, respectively.Publications
Publications of specific relevance to the Centre for Evolutionary and Functional Genomics2024
Vellutini BC, Martín-Durán JM, Børve A and Hejnol A (2024). Combinatorial Wnt signaling landscape during brachiopod anteroposterior patterning. BMC Biology vol. 22 (1), 212-212. 19-09-2024
Yen EC, Gilbert JD, Balard A, Afonso IO, Fairweather K, Newlands D, Lopes A, Correia SM, Taxonera A, Rossiter SJ, Martín‐Durán JM and Eizaguirre C (2024). DNA Methylation Carries Signatures of Sublethal Effects Under Thermal Stress in Loggerhead Sea Turtles. Evolutionary Applications, Wiley vol. 17 (9), e70013-e70013. 15-09-2024
Guynes K, Sarre LA, Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Davies BE, Xu L, Liang Y, Martín-Zamora FM, Hurd PJ, de Mendoza A and Martín-Durán JM (2024). Annelid methylomes reveal ancestral developmental and aging-associated epigenetic erosion across Bilateria. Genome Biology, Springer Nature vol. 25 (1), 204-204. 01-08-2024
McKenna V, Archibald JM, Beinart R, Dawson MN, Hentschel U, Keeling PJ, Lopez JV, Martín-Durán JM, Petersen JM, Sigwart JD, Simakov O, Sutherland KR, Sweet M, Talbot N, Thompson AW, Bender S, Harrison PW, Rajan J, Cochrane G, Berriman M, et al. (2024). The Aquatic Symbiosis Genomics Project: probing the evolution of symbiosis across the Tree of Life. Wellcome Open Research, F1000Research vol. 6 10-06-2024
Jimenez-Guri E, Paganos P, La Vecchia C, Annona G, Caccavale F, Molina MD, Ferrández-Roldán A, Donnellan RD, Salatiello F, Johnstone A, Eliso MC, Spagnuolo A, Cañestro C, Albalat R, Martín-Durán JM, Williams EA, D'Aniello E and Arnone MI (2024). Developmental toxicity of pre-production plastic pellets affects a large swathe of invertebrate taxa. Chemosphere, Elsevier vol. 356 05-04-2024
Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Donnellan RD, Williams EA, Jékely G and Martín-Durán JM (2024). The development of the adult nervous system in the annelid Owenia fusiformis. Neural Development, Springer Nature vol. 19 (1) 21-02-2024
2023
Martín-Durán JM (2023). Emerging trends in functional genomics in Spiralia. Briefings in Functional Genomics, Oxford University Press (OUP) vol. 22 (6), 485-486. 17-11-2023
Liang Y, Carrillo-Baltodano AM and Martín-Durán JM (2023). Emerging trends in the study of spiralian larvae. Evolution & Development, Wiley 03-10-2023
Martín-Zamora FM, Davies BE, Donnellan RD, Guynes K and Martín-Durán JM (2023). Functional genomics in Spiralia. Briefings in Functional Genomics, Oxford University Press 09-08-2023
Zakas C and Martín-Durán JM (2023). Genomics of Marine Larval Evolution and Development. Integrative and Comparative Biology, Oxford University Press (OUP) 01-08-2023
Goffredi SK, Panossian B, Brzechffa C, Field N, King C, Moggioli G, Rouse GW, Martín-Durán JM and Henry LM (2023). A dynamic epibiont community associated with the bone-eating polychaete genus Osedax. mBio, American Society for Microbiology vol. 14 (4), e03140-e03122. 29-06-2023
Martin Duran J, Henry L, Moggioli G, Panosian B, Sun Y, Thiel D, Martin-Zamora FM, Tran M, Clifford AM, Goffredi S, Rimskaya-Korsakova N, Jekely G, Tresguerres M, Qian P-Y, Qiu J-W and Rouse GR (2023). Distinct genomic routes underlie transitions to specialised symbiotic lifestyles in deep-sea annelid worms. Nature Communications, Nature Research 17-05-2023
Gąsiorowski L, Martín-Durán JM and Hejnol A (2023). The Evolution of Hox Genes in Spiralia. Hox Modules in Evolution and Development 177-194. 16-03-2023
Martín-Zamora FM, Liang Y, Guynes K, Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Davies BE, Donnellan RD, Tan Y, Moggioli G, Seudre O, Tran M, Mortimer K, Luscombe NM, Hejnol A, Marletaz F and Martin Duran J (2023). Annelid functional genomics reveal the origins of bilaterian life cycles. Nature, SpringerNature 25-01-2023
2022
Seudre O, Martín-Zamora FM, Rapisarda V, Luqman I, Carrillo-Baltodano AM and Martín-Durán JM (2022). The Fox Gene Repertoire in the Annelid Owenia fusiformis Reveals Multiple Expansions of the foxQ2 Class in Spiralia. Genome Biology and Evolution, Oxford University Press (OUP) vol. 14 (10) 13-09-2022
Seudre O, Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Liang Y and Martín-Durán JM (2022). ERK1/2 is an ancestral organising signal in spiral cleavage. Nature Communications, Springer Nature vol. 13 (1) 28-04-2022
2021
McKenna V, Archibald JM, Beinart R, Dawson MN, Hentschel U, Keeling PJ, Lopez JV, Martín-Durán JM, Petersen JM, Sigwart JD, Simakov O, Sutherland KR, Sweet M, Talbot N, Thompson AW, Bender S, Harrison PW, Rajan J, Cochrane G, Berriman M, et al. (2021). The Aquatic Symbiosis Genomics Project: probing the evolution of symbiosis across the tree of life. Wellcome Open Research, F1000Research vol. 6 06-10-2021
Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Seudre O, Guynes K and Martín-Durán JM (2021). Early embryogenesis and organogenesis in the annelid Owenia fusiformis. EvoDevo, Springer Nature vol. 12 (1) 10-05-2021
2020
Martín-Durán JM, Vellutini BC, Marlétaz F, Cetrangolo V, Cvetesic N, Thiel D, Henriet S, Grau-Bové X, Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Gu W, Kerbl A, Marquez Y, Bekkouche N, Chourrout D, Gómez-Skarmeta JL, Irimia M, Lenhard B, Worsaae K and Hejnol A (2020). Publisher Correction: Conservative route to genome compaction in a miniature annelid (Nature Ecology & Evolution, (2020), 10.1038/s41559-020-01327-6). Nature Ecology and Evolution, Nature Research 25-11-2020
Martin Duran J, Vellutini BC, Marlétaz F, Cetrangolo V, Cvetesic N, Thiel D, Henriet S, Grau-Bové X, Carrillo-Baltodano AM, Gu W, Kerbl A, Marquez Y, Bekkouche N, Chourrout D, Gómez-Skarmeta JL, Irimia M, Lenhard B, Worsaee K and Hejnol A (2020). Conservative route to genome compaction in a miniature annelid. Nature Ecology and Evolution, Nature Research 16-11-2020
Martin Duran J and Marletaz F (2020). Unravelling spiral cleavage. Development, Company of Biologists 02-01-2020
2019
Conti D, Gul P, Islam A, Martín-Durán JM, Pickersgill RW and Draviam VM (2019). Kinetochores attached to microtubule-ends are stabilised by astrin bound pp1 to ensure proper chromosome segregation. eLife, eLife Sciences Publications Ltd vol. 8 24-12-2019
Martín-Durán JM and Hejnol A (2019). A developmental perspective on the evolution of the nervous system. Developmental Biology, Elsevier 11-10-2019
Drinnenberg IA, Berger F, Elsässer SJ, Andersen PR, Ausió J, Bickmore WA, Blackwell AR, Erwin DH, Gahan JM, Gaut BS, Harvey ZH, Henikoff S, Kao JY, Kurdistani SK, Lemos B, Levine MT, Luger K, Malik HS, Martín-Durán JM, Peichel CL, et al. (2019). EvoChromo: towards a synthesis of chromatin biology and evolution. Development, The Company of Biologists vol. 146 (19) 26-09-2019
Hogvall M, Vellutini BC, Martín-Durán JM, Hejnol A, Budd GE and Janssen R (2019). Embryonic expression of priapulid Wnt genes. Development Genes and Evolution, Springer Nature vol. 229 (4), 125-135. 01-07-2019
Martín-Durán JM and Vellutini BC (2019). Introduction: Young Approaches to Animal Evolution. Old Questions and Young Approaches to Animal Evolution 1-12. 01-01-2019
2018
Rozanski A, Moon H, Brandl H, Martín-Durán JM, Grohme MA, Hüttner K, Bartscherer K, Henry I and Rink JC (2018). PlanMine 3.0—improvements to a mineable resource of flatworm biology and biodiversity. Nucleic Acids Research, Oxford University Press (OUP) vol. 47 (D1), d812-d820. 28-11-2018
Martín-Durán JM (2018). General Principles of Planarian Embryogenesis and Its Analysis by In Situ Hybridization and Immunohistochemistry Methods. Methods in Molecular Biology, Springer Nature vol. 1774, 405-421. 01-01-2018
2017
Martín-Durán JM, Pang K, Børve A, Lê HS, Furu A, Cannon JT, Jondelius U and Hejnol A (2017). Convergent evolution of bilaterian nerve cords. Nature, Springer Nature vol. 553 (7686), 45-50. 13-12-2017
Vellutini BC, Martín-Durán JM and Hejnol A (2017). Cleavage modification did not alter blastomere fates during bryozoan evolution. BMC Biol, Springer Nature vol. 15 (1), 33-33. 28-04-2017
Martín-Durán JM, Ryan JF, Vellutini BC, Pang K and Hejnol A (2017). Increased taxon sampling reveals thousands of hidden orthologs in flatworms. Genome Res, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press vol. 27 (7), 1263-1272. 11-04-2017
Schiemann SM, Martín-Durán JM, Børve A, Vellutini BC, Passamaneck YJ and Hejnol A (2017). Clustered brachiopod Hox genes are not expressed collinearly and are associated with lophotrochozoan novelties. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America vol. 114 (10), E1913-E1922. 07-03-2017
2016
Martín-Durán JM, Passamaneck YJ, Martindale MQ and Hejnol A (2016). The developmental basis for the recurrent evolution of deuterostomy and protostomy. Nat Ecol Evol vol. 1 (1), 5-5. 05-12-2016
Martín-Durán JM, Vellutini BC and Hejnol A (2016). Embryonic chirality and the evolution of spiralian left-right asymmetries. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, Royal Society Publishing vol. 371 (1710) 07-11-2016
Sureda-Gómez M, Martín-Durán JM and Adell T (2016). Localization of planarian β-CATENIN-1 reveals multiple roles during anterior-posterior regeneration and organogenesis. Development, The Company of Biologists vol. 143 (22), 4149-4160. 13-10-2016
Kerbl A, Martín-Durán JM, Worsaae K and Hejnol A (2016). Molecular regionalization in the compact brain of the meiofaunal annelid Dinophilus gyrociliatus (Dinophilidae). Evodevo, Springer Nature vol. 7 (1), 20-20. 30-08-2016
Barberán S, Martín-Durán JM and Cebrià F (2016). Evolution of the EGFR pathway in Metazoa and its diversification in the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. Sci Rep, Springer Nature vol. 6, 28071-28071. 21-06-2016
2015
Martín-Durán JM, Wolff GH, Strausfeld NJ and Hejnol A (2015). The larval nervous system of the penis worm Priapulus caudatus (Ecdysozoa). Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci vol. 371 (1685), 20150050-20150050. 23-11-2015
Martín-Durán JM, Vellutini BC and Hejnol A (2015). Evolution and development of the adelphophagic, intracapsular Schmidt’s larva of the nemertean Lineus ruber. EvoDevo, Springer Nature vol. 6 (1) 28-09-2015
Hejnol A and Martín-Durán JM (2015). Getting to the bottom of anal evolution. Zoologischer Anzeiger, Elsevier vol. 256, 61-74. 01-05-2015
Martín-Durán JM and Hejnol A (2015). The study of Priapulus caudatus reveals conserved molecular patterning underlying different gut morphogenesis in the Ecdysozoa. BMC Biology, Springer Nature vol. 13 (1) 21-04-2015
Adell T, Martín-Durán JM, Saló E and Cebrià F (2015). Platyhelminthes. Evolutionary Developmental Biology of Invertebrates 2 21-40. 01-01-2015
2014
Grande C, Martín-Durán JM, Kenny NJ, Truchado-García M and Hejnol A (2014). Evolution, divergence and loss of the Nodal signalling pathway: new data and a synthesis across the Bilateria. The International Journal of Developmental Biology, UPV/EHU Press vol. 58 (6-7-8), 521-532. 01-01-2014
Martin-Duran JM, Passamaneck YJ, Martindale MQ and Hejnol A (2014). Evolution of protostomy in the Brachiopoda. 01-01-2014
2013
Martín-Durán JM, de Mendoza A, Sebé-Pedrós A, Ruiz-Trillo I and Hejnol A (2013). A Broad Genomic Survey Reveals Multiple Origins and Frequent Losses in the Evolution of Respiratory Hemerythrins and Hemocyanins. Genome Biology and Evolution, Oxford University Press (OUP) vol. 5 (7), 1435-1442. 01-07-2013
2012
Martín-Durán JM, Janssen R, Wennberg S, Budd GE and Hejnol A (2012). Deuterostomic Development in the Protostome Priapulus caudatus. Current Biology, Elsevier vol. 22 (22), 2161-2166. 25-10-2012
Martín-Durán JM, Monjo F and Romero R (2012). Morphological and molecular development of the eyes during embryogenesis of the freshwater planarian Schmidtea polychroa. Development Genes and Evolution, Springer Nature vol. 222 (1), 45-54. 12-02-2012
Martín-Durán JM and Egger B (2012). Developmental diversity in free-living flatworms. EvoDevo, Springer Nature vol. 3 (1) 01-01-2012
Martín-Durán JM, Monjo F and Romero R (2012). Planarian embryology in the era of comparative developmental biology. The International Journal of Developmental Biology, UPV/EHU Press vol. 56 (1-2-3), 39-48. 01-01-2012
2011
Irimia M, Denuc A, Burguera D, Somorjai I, Martín-Durán JM, Genikhovich G, Jimenez-Delgado S, Technau U, Roy SW, Marfany G and Garcia-Fernàndez J (2011). Stepwise assembly of the Nova-regulated alternative splicing network in the vertebrate brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences vol. 108 (13), 5319-5324. 09-03-2011
Martín-Durán JM and Romero R (2011). Evolutionary implications of morphogenesis and molecular patterning of the blind gut in the planarian Schmidtea polychroa. Developmental Biology, Elsevier vol. 352 (1), 164-176. 03-02-2011
2010
Martín-Durán JM, Amaya E and Romero R (2010). Germ layer specification and axial patterning in the embryonic development of the freshwater planarian Schmidtea polychroa. Developmental Biology, Elsevier vol. 340 (1), 145-158. 25-01-2010
2008
Martín‐Durán JM, Duocastella M, Serra P and Romero R (2008). New method to deliver exogenous material into developing planarian embryos. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B Molecular and Developmental Evolution, Wiley vol. 310B (8), 668-681. 21-10-2008
Grants
Grants of specific relevance to the Centre for Evolutionary and Functional GenomicsThe evolution of developmental system drift in axial specification in SpiraliaJose Martin Duran
£648,579 BBSRC Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (01-08-2024 - 31-07-2027)
Heads or tails? The evolution of trunk growth heterochronies in animal larvaeJose Martin Duran
£325,064 Leverhulme Trust (01-01-2024 - 31-12-2026)
Highthroughput Light Sheet Microscopy: Imaging Across ScalesViji Draviam Sastry, Caroline Brennan, Vidya Darbari, Jose Martin Duran, Ivan Kadurin, Maria Isabel Palacios De Castro, Richard Pickersgill, Sarah McClelland, Tyson Sharp and Martin Knight
£386,205 MRC Medical Research Council (01-10-2022 - 31-03-2023)
A confocal microscope for multidisciplinary dynamic studies of complex biological systemsConrad Mullineaux, Caroline Brennan, Alexandre De Mendoza Soler, Viji Draviam Sastry, Maurice Elphick, Christoph Engl, Maria Isabel Palacios De Castro, Matteo Palma, Marina Resmini, Alexander Ruban, Peter Thorpe, Angelika Stollewerk, Jose Martin Duran, Paulo Baptista Ribeiro, Susana Alves Godinho, Richard Grose, Stephanie Kermorgant, Peter McCormick and Tyson Sharp
£390,834 BBSRC Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (01-08-2022 - 31-07-2023)
KTP Project with Zeiss- Generalisation of SpinX software (Deep Learning based system and 3D modellingViji Draviam Sastry and Jose Martin Duran
£142,038 Innovate UK (01-11-2021 - 30-04-2023)
UK-China partnership: Chromosomal Instability aiding Genetic Variants (CIVa) linked to human ageingViji Draviam Sastry and Jose Martin Duran
£23,873 BBSRC Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (01-08-2021 - 31-07-2024)
Evolution of cell-fate specification modes in spiral developmentJose Martin Duran
£1,163,396 EU Commission - Horizon 2020 (01-02-2019 - 31-07-2024)