2023 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Exploring life-history and symbiotic strategy of social insect symbiont using X-ray CT
| Project/Area Number |
22KF0296
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Institution | Kyushu University |
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Principal Investigator |
丸山 宗利 九州大学, 総合研究博物館, 准教授 (80512186)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
LIANG WEI-REN 九州大学, 総合研究博物館, 外国人特別研究員
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| Project Period (FY) |
2023-03-08 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | Social insects / Myrmecophily / Termitophily / Micro-CT |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Studying the life cycles and symbiotic behaviors of social insect symbionts presents numerous challenges, primarily because these organisms are rare in their natural habitats and can be difficult to maintain in laboratory. This research describes the development of a practical comparative workflow to investigate the life-histories and symbiotic strategies of social insect symbionts using a non-destructive high-resolution micro-CT. We've carefully selected certain traits and tested their suitability for micro-CT imaging to evaluate their effectiveness as indicators. Encouragingly, our findings suggest promising results, and we're now in the process of refining a set of appropriate indicators to apply across a diverse array of rare symbiont species. Our objective is to equip researchers with valuable tools to explore social insect symbionts, address gaps in our understanding of their ecology, and develop simulation models to tackle specific questions regarding their symbiotic interactions.
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