The mysterious evolutionary origin for the GNE gene and the root of bilateria

Phylogenomic analyses have revealed several important metazoan clades, such as the Ecdysozoa and the Lophotrochozoa. However, the phylogenetic positions of a few taxa, such as ctenophores, chaetognaths, acoelomorphs, and Xenoturbella, remain contentious. Thus, the findings of qualitative markers or "rare genomic changes" seem ideal to independently test previous phylogenetic hypotheses. We here describe a rare genomic change, the presence of the gene UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase (GNE). We show that GNE is encoded in the genomes of deuterostomes, acoelomorphs and Xenoturbella, whereas it is absent in protostomes and nonbilaterians. Moreover, the GNE has a complex evolutionary origin involving unique lateral gene transfer events and/or extensive hidden paralogy for each protein domain. However, rather than using GNE as a phylogenetic character, we argue that rare genomic changes such as the one presented here should be used with caution.