bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.12.985168; this version posted March 12, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY 4.0 International license. Feeding-dependent tentacle development in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis Aissam Ikmi1,2*, Petrus J. Steenbergen1, Marie Anzo1, Mason R. McMullen2,3, Anniek Stokkermans1, Lacey R. Ellington2, and Matthew C. Gibson2,4 Affiliations: 1Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany. 2Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri 64110, USA. 3Department of Pharmacy, The University of Kansas Health System, Kansas City, Kansas 66160, USA. 4Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, Kansas 66160, USA. *Corresponding author. Email:
[email protected] 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.12.985168; this version posted March 12, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY 4.0 International license. Summary In cnidarians, axial patterning is not restricted to embryonic development but continues throughout a prolonged life history filled with unpredictable environmental changes. How this developmental capacity copes with fluctuations of food availability and whether it recapitulates embryonic mechanisms remain poorly understood. To address these questions, we utilize the tentacles of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis as a novel paradigm for developmental patterning across distinct life history stages.