2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Male and female in social amoeba? Functional analysis of male-specific gene "OTOKOGI" orthologs in Dictyostekium discoideum
| Project/Area Number |
24657160
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Evolutionary biology
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| Research Institution | Hirosaki University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
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| Keywords | 細胞性粘菌 / 有性生殖 / 雌雄性成立 / 同型配偶 / ホモタリック接合 / otokogi / minus-dominance |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum has a sexual cycle to form resistant macrocysts, in which two of the three mating types match to fuse. Although there is no “male and female” concept, it possesses orthologs of OTOKOGI (MID) gene that determines male gamete differentiation in algae. We have isolated three MID orthologs from Dictyostelium and characterized their functions in macrocyst formation. All Ddmids were detected in genomes of all three mating types, indicating that Ddmids are not sex determinant in this organism. DdmidB overexpression induced formation of macrocyst-like structure, suggesting that the gene has a role in sexual development; homothallic formation of macrocyst. However, inactivation of DdmidB did not interfere with macrocyst formation in either homothallic/heterothallic pair of mating types. These suggest the function of DdmidB not in sex determination but in enhancing macrocyst formation, by regulating relevant gene expression as a transcription factor.
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| Free Research Field |
発生細胞生物学
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