Evolutionary sensory biology of deep-sea animals adapted into extreme environments.

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24657058
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Animal physiology/Animal behavior
• Research Institution: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
• Principal Investigator: SHIGENO Shuichi 独立行政法人海洋研究開発機構, 海洋生物多様性研究分野, 技術研究員 (90360560)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): OGURA Atsushi 長浜バイオ大学, コンピュータバイオサイエンス学科, 准教授 (60465929)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): KANZAKI Ryohei 東京大学, 先端科学技術研究センター, 教授 (40221907)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 熱水動物 / 神経系 / 進化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The deep-sea hydrothermal vent endemic animals display an exceptional tolerance to high temperatures and the toxicity of acidic and reducing fluids. By examining vent endemic animals, we identified the epidermal ciliated sensory cell types, specialized glial supportive cells, and their sensory inputs unlikely derived from the dorsal head regions. Additionally, in our chemical stimulation experiments, we found that the worms particularly respond against hydrogen peroxide. Furthermore, we conducted comprehensive RNAseq analyses to identify receptors or channels related genes. Our evidence provides insight into the cellular and system-wide adaptive structure used to sense, process, and combat the deep-sea hydrothermal vent environments.

Free Research Field

進化形態学、分子神経学