2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Experimental analysis of an early stage of endosymbiosis between an alga and a protozoon using a synthetic microbial ecosystem
| Project/Area Number |
25440240
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Ecology/Environment
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| Research Institution | Ehime University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
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| Keywords | 細胞内共生 / マイクロコズム / 実験進化 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Endo-symbiosis is widely recognized as a process generating evolutionary innovation, in which unicellular organisms of a particular species live within, i.e., metabolize and propagate synchronically with a host cell of a different species. We conducted an unprecedented experiment of a long-term culture of a green alga (Micractinium sp.), a bacterium (E. coli), and a ciliate (Tetrahymena theormophila), in order to observe directly the evolution of component species in the culture. In this study, we revealed that a primitive form of endo-symbiosis between the alga and the ciliate, and also ecto-symbiosis between the alga and the bacterium, evolved in the long-term culture.
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| Free Research Field |
進化生態学
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