A morphological and evolutionary study of the multicellularity, the evolutionary transition of organism morphology

• Project/Area Number: 24657045
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Morphology/Structure
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Hisayoshi Nozaki 東京大学, 理学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (40250104)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2015)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥900,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000); Fiscal Year 2012: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
• Keywords: 群体性ボルボックス目 / シアワセモ / 多細胞化 / 進化 / 多細胞生物 / テトラバエナ / ゲノム / 最小多細胞生物 / 微細構造 / 原形質間架橋

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The colonial Volvocales represent a model lineage for studies of multicellularity. Tetrabaena socialis is a four-celled species of this order and occupied the most basal phylogenetic position within the order. Based on the present morphological analyses, the four-celled colonial volvocalean species Tetrabaena socialis was demonstrated to be the simplest multicellular organism. These results will contribute much to our understanding of the multicellularity. Further studies using T. socialis will resolve fundamental molecular bases of evolution from unicellular to multicellular organization. Currently, we are searching key genes for the evolution of the multicellular organism by using the whole genome data of T. socialis.

Research Products

• [Int'l Joint Research] Univ of Witwatersrand(南アフリカ)
• [Int'l Joint Research] Leibniz-Institute (IGB)(ドイツ)
• [Journal Article] Morphology and phylogenetic position of a rare four-celled green alga, Pascherina tetras (Volvocales, Chlorophyceae), based on cultured material. (2015)
  • Author(s): Sugasawa, M., Matsuzaki, R., Arakaki, Y. and Nozaki, H.
  • Journal Title: Phycologia Volume: 54 Issue: 4 Pages: 342-348
  • DOI: 10.2216/15-27.1
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Revisiting the taxonomic significance of aplanozygote morphologies of two cosmopolitan snow species of the genus Chloromonas (Volvocales, Chlorophyceae). (2015)
  • Author(s): Matsuzaki R., Kawai-Toyooka H., Hara Y., and Nozaki H.
  • Journal Title: Phycologia Volume: 54 Issue: 5 Pages: 491-502
  • DOI: 10.2216/15-33.1
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Taxonomic Study of <i>Pyrobotrys</i> (Spondylomoraceae, Chlorophyceae) Based on Comparative Morphological and Molecular Analyses of Culture Strains Established Using Novel Methods (2015)
  • Author(s): Sugasawa, M., Matsuzaki, R., Kawafune, K., Takahashi, T., Kawachi, M., Krienitz, L. and Nozaki, H.
  • Journal Title: CYTOLOGIA Volume: 80 Issue: 4 Pages: 513-524
  • DOI: 10.1508/cytologia.80.513
  • NAID: 130005118539
  • ISSN: 0011-4545, 1348-7019
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] A rickettsial endosymbiont inhabiting the cytoplasm of Volvox carteri (Volvocales, Chlorophyceae). (2014)
  • Author(s): Kawafune, K., Hongoh, Y. and Nozaki, H.
  • Journal Title: Phycologia Volume: 53 Issue: 1 Pages: 95-99
  • DOI: 10.2216/13-193.1
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Sex-specific post-translational regulation of the gamete fusogen GCSI in the isogamous volvocine alga Gonium pectorale. (2014)
  • Author(s): Kawai-Toyooka H, Mori T, Hamaji T, Suzuki M, Olson BJ, Uemura T, Ueda T, Nakano A, Toyoda A, Fujiyama A, Nozaki H
  • Journal Title: EUkaryotic Cell Volume: (in press) Issue: 5 Pages: 648-656
  • DOI: 10.1128/ec.00330-13
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Surface Ornamentation of <i>Cyanophora paradoxa</i> (Cyanophorales, Glaucophyta) Cells as Revealed by Ultra-High Resolution Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (2014)
  • Author(s): Takahashi, T., Sato, M., Toyooka, K. and Nozaki, H.
  • Journal Title: CYTOLOGIA Volume: 79 Issue: 1 Pages: 119-123
  • DOI: 10.1508/cytologia.79.119
  • NAID: 130004448264
  • ISSN: 0011-4545, 1348-7019
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] Phylogenomic analysis of “red” genes from two divergent species of the “green” secondary phototrophs, the chlorarachniophytes, suggests multiple horizontal gene transfers from the red lineage before the divergence of extant chlorarachniophytes. (2014)
  • Author(s): Yang, Y., Matsuzaki, M., Takahashi, F., Qu, L. and Nozaki, H.
  • Journal Title: PLoS ONE Volume: 9 Issue: 6 Pages: e101158-e101158
  • DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0101158
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] Five Cyanophora (Cyanophorales, Glaucophyta) species delineated based on morphological and molecular data. (2014)
  • Author(s): Takahashi, T., Sato, M., Toyooka, K., Matsuzaki, R., Kawafune, K., Kawamura, M., Okuda, K. and Nozaki, H.
  • Journal Title: J. Phycol. Volume: 50 Issue: 6 Pages: 1058-1069
  • DOI: 10.1111/jpy.12236
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] New "missing link" genus of the colonial volvocine green algae gives insights into the evolution of oogamy. (2014)
  • Author(s): Nozaki H., Yamada T. K., Takahashi F., Matsuzaki R., & Nakada T.
  • Journal Title: BMC Evolutionary Biology Volume: 14 Issue: 1 Pages: 37-37
  • DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-14-37
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] The Simplest Multicellular Organism Unvailed. (2013)
  • Author(s): Yoko Arakaki・Hiroko Kawai-Toyooka・Yuki Hamamura・Tetsuya Higashiyama・Akira Noga・Masafumi Hirono・Bradley J. S. C. Olson・Hisayoshi Nozaki.
  • Journal Title: PLOS ONE Volume: 8 Issue: 12 Pages: 1-8
  • DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081641
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Mitochondrial and plastid genomes of the colonial green alga Gonium pectorale give insights into the origins DNA architecture within the Volvocales. (2013)
  • Author(s): Takashi Hamaji
  • Journal Title: PLoS One Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Pages: e57177-e57177
  • DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057177
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Organelle genome complexity scales positively with organism size in volvocine green algae. (2013)
  • Author(s): Smith DR, Hamaj i T, Olson BJ, Durand PM, Ferris P, Michod RE, Featherston J, Nozaki H, Keeling PJ
  • Journal Title: Molecular Biology and Evolution Volume: 30 Issue: 4 Pages: 793-797
  • DOI: 10.1093/molbev/mst002
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] 緑藻綱ボルボックス目における多細胞化の初期段階 (2015)
  • Author(s): 新垣陽子、菅澤瑞穂、松﨑令、豊岡博子、野崎久義
  • Organizer: 第12回クラミドモナス研究会
  • Place of Presentation: 中央大学理工学部（東京都・文京区）
  • Year and Date: 2015-09-03
• [Presentation] Unveiling the initial stage of multicellularity within the Volvocales (2015)
  • Author(s): Arakaki, Y., Sugasawa, M., Matsuzaki, R., Kawai-Toyooka, H. and Nozaki, H.
  • Organizer: Third International Volvox Conference
  • Place of Presentation: Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • Year and Date: 2015-08-19
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] ボルボックス目藻類で探る多細胞化初期過程 (2015)
  • Author(s): 新垣陽子、菅澤瑞穂、松崎令、豊岡博子、野崎久義
  • Organizer: 日本植物形態学会第27回総会・大会
  • Place of Presentation: 朱鷺メッセ：新潟コンベンションセンター（新潟j県・新潟市）
  • Year and Date: 2015-08-05
• [Presentation] 群体性緑藻スポンディロモルム科（ボルボックス目）2 属の新規培養株を用いた比較形態観察と分子系統解析による分類学的研究 (2015)
  • Author(s): 菅澤瑞穂、松﨑令、川舩かおる、高橋紀之、野崎久義
  • Organizer: 日本植物分類学会第14回大会
  • Place of Presentation: 福島大学、福島市
  • Year and Date: 2015-03-06 – 2015-03-08
• [Presentation] Genome data of the evolutionary time machine colonial volvocaleans unveiling origins of genders and multicellularity (2015)
  • Author(s): Nozaki, H., Kawai-Toyooka H., Suzuki, M., Mor, T., Hamaji, T., Toyoda, A., Noguchi, H. and Fujiyama, A.
  • Organizer: International Symposium on Genome Science 2015 "Expanding Frontiers of Genome Science II"
  • Place of Presentation: Hitotsubashi Hall, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
  • Year and Date: 2015-01-20 – 2015-01-21
• [Presentation] 緑藻ボルボックス目 "シアワセモ" で探る多細胞化の初期過程 (2014)
  • Author(s): 新垣陽子、豊岡博子、野崎久義
  • Organizer: 第47回日本原生生物学会大会
  • Place of Presentation: 宮城教育大学、仙台市
  • Year and Date: 2014-10-31 – 2014-11-02
  • Invited
• [Presentation] 群体性藻類Stephanosphaera（緑藻綱，オオヒゲマワリ目）の単細胞性姉妹群の再検討 (2014)
  • Author(s): 宗像英仁、仲田崇志、野崎久義、冨田勝
  • Organizer: 日本植物学会第78回大会
  • Place of Presentation: 明治大学生田キャンパス、川崎市
  • Year and Date: 2014-09-12 – 2014-09-14
• [Presentation] “200 MY time Travel” for origin of female and male genders by driving the evolutionary time machine “colonial Volvocales” (2014)
  • Author(s): Nozaki, H.
  • Organizer: DBS Special Seminar, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana
  • Place of Presentation: University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA
  • Year and Date: 2014-07-30
  • Invited
• [Presentation] 最もシンプルな統合された多細胞体の発掘 (2013)
  • Author(s): 新垣陽子、豊岡博子、浜村有希、東山哲也、苗加彰、廣野雅文、野崎久義
  • Organizer: 第13回東京大学生命科学シンポジウム
  • Place of Presentation: 東京大学伊藤国際学術研究センター
• [Presentation] The simplest multicellular organism Tetrabaena socialis (2013)
  • Author(s): Arakaki, Y., Kawai-Toyooka, H., Hamamura, Y., Higashiyama, T., Noga, A., Hirono, M. and Nozaki, H.
  • Organizer: Second International Volvox Conference
  • Place of Presentation: University of New Brunswick. Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
• [Presentation] The Volvocales genome project (2013)
  • Author(s): Olson, B. J. S. C., Hanschen, E. R., Marriage, T. N., Hamaji, T., Durand, P., Nozaki, H., Ferris, P. J., Featherston, J., Suzuki, M., Kawai-Toyooka, H., Fujiyama, A., Toyoda, A., Brown, S., Coleman, M., and Michod, R. E.
  • Organizer: Second International Volvox Conference
  • Place of Presentation: University of New Brunswick. Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
• [Presentation] 4細胞性初期多細胞体テトラバエナ (緑藻綱、ボルボックス目) の微細構造観察 (2013)
  • Author(s): 新垣陽子、豊岡博子、野崎久義
  • Organizer: 日本藻類学会第37回大会
  • Place of Presentation: 山梨大学甲府西キャンパス
• [Presentation] 群体性ボルボックス目Gonium pectorale のオルガネラゲノム (2013)
  • Author(s): 浜地貴志、Smith DR、野口英樹、豊田敦、鈴木雅大、豊岡博子、藤山秋佐夫、西井一郎、Marriage T、Olson、野崎久義
  • Organizer: 日本藻類学会第37回大会
  • Place of Presentation: 山梨大学甲府西キャンパス
• [Presentation] 新垣陽子・豊岡博子・浜村有希・東山哲也・野崎久義 (2012)
  • Author(s): 新垣陽、豊岡博子、浜村有希、東山哲也、野崎久義
  • Organizer: 日本植物学会第76回大会
  • Place of Presentation: 兵庫県立大学姫路書写キャンパス
• [Remarks] 世界最小の多細胞生物の発掘
  • URL: http://www.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ja/press/2013/47.html
• [Remarks] 細胞数の増加とともにオルガネラゲノムは増大する： 群体性ボルボックス目藻類の比較ゲノム
  • URL: http://www.biol.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/users/tayousei/information.html#info130316