The chromatin-regulating CoREST complex is animal specific and essential for development in the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis

Using the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis as a model for early branching metazoans, we show that CoREST is an animal-specific protein that assembles a conserved histone-modifying complex including Lsd1 and HDAC1/2. We further show that the Nematostella complex is similar in composition to vertebrates.