Generation of complex and elaborate patterns with invariant cell lineages during trunk oikoplastic epidermis development of appendicularians

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K14735
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Developmental biology
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Nishida Hiroki 大阪大学, 理学研究科, 教授 (60192689)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 小沼 健 大阪大学, 理学研究科, 助教 (30632103)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: オタマボヤ / 尾虫類 / Oikopleura / 表皮 / パターン形成 / 細胞系譜 / ライブイメージング / 幹細胞分裂

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Mechanisms for morphogenetic processes that generate complex patterns in a reproducible manner remain elusive. The trunk epidermis of appendicularians, called the oikoplastic epithelium (OE), has elaborate cellular arrangements showing a complex pattern. The OE is characterized by invariant number, size, and shape of the monolayer epithelial cells. First, we subdivided the OE and defined several domains by cellular resolution, and systematically gave names to the constituent cells. Time-lapse imaging of the epidermal cells revealed region-specific pattern formation processes. Regulation of orientation, timing, and the number of rounds of cell divisions, but not cell death and migration, was a critical mechanism for determination of final cell arrangement and size. These detailed descriptions of OE patterning processes provide basic and essential information in the generation of elaborate and intricate but stereotyped cellular patterns.

Free Research Field

発生生物学