Origin and evolution of the vertebrate leukocyte receptors: the lesson from tunicates

Tunicates and not cephalochordates are the closest living relatives of vertebrates

Frédéric Delsuc, Henner Brinkmann, Daniel Chourrout et al. · Nature · 2006 · 1.6K citations

Biology, Synapsida, Morphological Evidence +12

Evolution by the birth-and-death process in multigene families of the vertebrate immune system

Masatoshi Nei, Xun Gu, T. Ya. Sitnikova · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 1997 · 811 citations

Lymphocyte Development, Comparative Genomics, Genetics +25

Extensive Diversity of Ig-Superfamily Proteins in the Immune System of Insects

Fiona L. Watson, Roland Püttmann-Holgado, Franziska Thomas et al. · Science · 2005 · 665 citations

Genetics, Entomology, Immunology +17

Somatic diversification of variable lymphocyte receptors in the agnathan sea lamprey

Zeev Pancer, Chris T. Amemiya, Götz R. A. Ehrhardt et al. · Nature · 2004 · 652 citations · Full text

Biology, Variable Lymphocyte Receptors, Somatic Diversification +4

Genomic analysis of immunity in a Urochordate and the emergence of the vertebrate immune system: “waiting for Godot”

Kaoru Azumi, Rosaria De Santis, Anthony De Tomaso et al. · Immunogenetics · 2003 · 293 citations

Vertebrate Immune System, Immunogenetics, Godot ” +13