2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Identification of genes involved in germline sex determination by global screening
Project/Area Number |
18K19332
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
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Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
Review Section |
Medium-sized Section 44:Biology at cellular to organismal levels, and related fields
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Research Institution | Nagoya University |
Principal Investigator |
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Project Period (FY) |
2018-06-29 – 2020-03-31
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Keywords | 生殖細胞 / ゲノム編集 / メダカ |
Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Germ cells are the only cells that can generate the next generation and produce either sperm and eggs. In this study, a genetic screening system was constructed to elucidate the mechanism of sperm-egg fate decision in germ cells using medaka. First, comparative gene expression analyses were performed between male and female germ cells to narrow down the number of candidate genes. Second, an efficient generation of DNA templates for gRNAs in CRISPR/Cas9 system was established. Third, transgenic lines in which spermatogenesis and oogenesis could be visualized by fluorescence were established. Upon gene knock-out, the phenotype could be easily distinguished by observing alive medaka under a fluorescent microscopy.
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Free Research Field |
生殖生物学
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Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
生殖細胞がどのような仕組みで精子あるいは卵になるか(生殖細胞の性決定)は、医学や水畜産学分野において基本的な問題であるにも関わらずほとんど分かっていないのが現状である。メダカを用いた研究で脊椎動物で初めてfoxl3という生殖細胞の性決定遺伝子が同定された。本研究では、foxl3を中心とした生殖細胞の性の仕組みを具体的に明らかにするために、効率的に生殖細胞の性に関わる遺伝子群のスクリーニング可能な実験系を構築した。本手法は生きた個体を用いて簡便に遺伝子の働きを探ることが出来るため、生殖生物学分野の研究だけでなく、生物学分野全般の研究において役立つツールだと考えられる。
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