Transcriptomic investigation of parasitic platyhelminths (Neodermata)

Within flatworms, the vast majority of parasitism is innate to Neodermata, the most derived and diversified group of the phylum Platyhelminthes. The four major lineages of Neodermata maintain various combinations of life strategies. Their evolutionary trajectories have remained molecularly unresolved because of conflicting evolutionary inferences and a lack of genomic data. Here, we generated transcriptomes for nine early-branching representatives of Neodermata and performed detailed phylogenomic analyses to address these critical gaps in our understanding of the evolution of the group.