2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Measuring molecular fluctuation of chordate developmental system and its contribution toward evolutionary conservation
| Project Area | Evolutionary theory for constrained and directional diversities |
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| Project/Area Number |
17H06387
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Review Section |
Biological Sciences
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
Irie Naoki 東京大学, 大学院理学系研究科(理学部), 准教授 (10536121)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
上坂 将弘 国立研究開発法人理化学研究所, 生命機能科学研究センター, 研究員 (20756499)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2017-06-30 – 2022-03-31
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| Keywords | 進化 / 進化発生生物学 / 発生拘束 / ゆらぎ / 発生安定性 / 頑健性 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
This project examined whether fluctuations in the developmental process of chordates contribute to evolutionary conservation (constraints and directions). The results of the study suggested that the developmental stage in which the basic structure of vertebrates is constructed is developmentally stable, showing small fluctuations in gene expression profiles. In addition, we found that this may be one of the contributing factors to the evolutionary conservation of this developmental phase. The experimental data also showed that body plan developing stage is enriched with repeatedly used genes, and this could have contributed to the evolutionary conservation of the body plan developing phase. This also suggests that while gene co-option frequently took place to facilitate the acquisition of new traits, it may also work as a factor that limits phenotypic diversification.
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| Free Research Field |
進化発生生物学
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
これまでの進化生物学は、遺伝的変異や環境の影響で出現した多用な特徴（表現型）が選択されたり、偶発的に集団内にひろがることで起こると説明されてきた。一方で、今回の一連の研究は、生物そのものにどの程度特徴を変えられるかという多様化のポテンシャルが備わっていることを示すものであり、その具体的実態（揺らぎ、遺伝子の使いまわしなど）を解明した研究である。様々な表現型のバリエーションを生み出すポテンシャルが低いと結果的に多様化する機会が減るというのは自然な考えであるものの、具体的にこうしたメカニズムまで明らかとなったのは大きな成果だと考えている。
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