2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Establishing Chymomyza costata as a new genetic model system to study photoperiodism

Research Project

Project/Area Number	24657007
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Genetics/Genome dynamics
Research Institution	National Institute of Genetics
Principal Investigator	KONDO Shu 国立遺伝学研究所, 系統生物研究センター, 助教 (90408401)
Project Period (FY)	2012-04-01 – 2014-03-31
Keywords	モデル生物
Research Abstract	Photoperiodism is a mechanism by which living organisms perceive long or short day lengths and differentially respond to each condition. Although photoperiodism is common in species living in areas where there are four seasons, little has been studied on its molecular mechanisms. Here we tried to establish Chymomyza costata as a new genetically tractable model system to study photoperiodims. Although I could successufully culture C. costata in the laboratory, pair-mating and mass egg collection were found to be difficult, making C. costata an unideal species for genetic manipulation. Therefore, I turned to other Drosophila species. After comparing several different species, I found that reproductive diapause of D. bifasciata is the most ideal system to study photoperiodism. In addition, I found that seasonal color variation in D. puturida is under the photoperiodic control.