Prof David Ferrier

Professor

Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 3480
Email: dekf@st-andrews.ac.uk

Research areas

We aim to understand how the diversity of form in the animal kingdom evolved. The focus of our research is the connection between the evolution of animal genome organisation and development, with a particular concentration on the homeobox-containing genes. The Hox gene cluster is established as a corner-stone of Evolutionary Developmental Biology, but much about the evolution of its organisation and mode of operation remains unknown. Also the Hox cluster is not unique as a homeobox gene cluster controlling animal development, further clusters being the ParaHox and NK clusters, all of which evolved within larger arrays of homeobox genes (the Mega-cluster and Super-Hox cluster). We utilize a variety of organisms in our research (including amphioxus, sea squirts, polychaetes and priapulids), chosen from key points in the phylogeny of the animals to enable reconstruction of the ancestral conditions at major nodes in the animal kingdom; the origin of bilaterians, protostomes, deuterostomes, chordates and vertebrates.

lab website: https://edge.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/

PhD supervision

Kate Smith

Selected publications

Open access
Developmental system drift in dorsoventral patterning is linked to transitions to autonomous development in Annelida.
Carrillo-Baltodano, A., Haillot, E., Mutiara Meha, S., Luqman, I., Pashaj, A., Lee, Y.-J., Lu, T.-M., Ferrier, D. E. K., Schneider, S. & Martin-Duran, J., 1 Jun 2025, bioRxiv.
Research output: Working paper › Preprint
Open access
Association of microbial community structure with gill disease in marine-stage farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar); a yearlong study
Clinton, M., Wyness, A. J., Martin, S. A. M., Brierley, A. S. & Ferrier, D. E. K., 1 Dec 2024, In: BMC Veterinary Research. 20, 21 p., 340.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
Long-read sequencing reveals increased isoform diversity in key transcription factor effectors of intercellular signalling at the invertebrate-vertebrate transition
Torres-Aguila, N. P., Salonna, M., Shimeld, S., Hoppler, S. & Ferrier, D. E. K., 15 Nov 2024, bioRxiv, 25 p.
Research output: Working paper › Preprint
Open access
Erratum: Micro-RNA Clusters Integrate Evolutionary Constraints on Expression and Target Affinities: The miR-6/5/4/286/3/309 Cluster in Drosophila (Molecular Biology and Evolution (2020) 37:10 (2955–2965) DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msaa146)
Zhe, Q., Yiu, W. C., Yip, H. Y., Nong, W., Yu, C. W. C., Lee, I. H. T., Wong, A. Y. P., Wong, N. W. Y., Cheung, F. K. M., Chan, T. F., Lau, K. F., Zhong, S., Chu, K. H., Tobe, S. S., Ferrier, D. E. K., Bendena, W. G. & Hui, J. H. L., 1 Apr 2023, In: Molecular Biology and Evolution. 40, 4, msad077.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review
Open access
Functionally diverse front-end desaturases are widespread in the phylum Annelida
Ramos-Llorens, M., Hontoria, F., Navarro, J., Ferrier, D. E. K. & Monroig, O., 1 Oct 2023, In: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids. 1868, 10, 10 p., 159377.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Hox modules in evolution and development
Ferrier, D. E. K. (Editor), 14 Apr 2023, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. 202 p. (Evolutionary cell biology)
Research output: Book/Report › Book
Introduction to Hox modules in evolution and development
Ferrier, D. E. K., 14 Apr 2023, Hox modules in evolution and development. Ferrier, D. E. K. (ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, p. 1-13 13 p. (Evolutionary cell biology).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Preface
Ferrier, D. E. K., 1 Jan 2023, Hox Modules in Evolution and Development. CRC Press, p. xi-xii
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Foreword/postscript
Open access
The genome of the deep-sea anemone Actinernus sp. contains a mega-array of ANTP-class homeobox genes
Law, S. T. S., Yu, Y., Nong, W., So, W. L., Li, Y., Swale, T., Ferrier, D. E. K., Qiu, J., Qian, P. & Hui, J. H. L., 25 Oct 2023, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 290, 2009, 20231563.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access
Amphioxus muscle transcriptomes reveal vertebrate-like myoblast fusion genes and a highly conserved role of insulin signalling in the metabolism of muscle
Aase-Remedios, M. E., Coll-Lladó, C. & Ferrier, D. E. K., 1 Feb 2022, In: BMC Genomics. 23, 21 p., 93.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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