Elucidation of the principle for creating three-dimensional branching structures from cell sheets

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Discovery of the logic that establishes the 3D structure of organisms
• Project/Area Number: 15H05864
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Biological Sciences
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Kondo Shigeru 大阪大学, 生命機能研究科, 教授 (10252503)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 後藤 寛貴 国立遺伝学研究所, ゲノム・進化研究系, 博士研究員 (60737899)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-06-29 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 生物形態 / 脱皮 / 成虫原基 / 折り紙 / カブトムシ / ツノゼミ / シミュレーション / 物理計算

Outline of Final Research Achievements

During molting, insects change their morphology briefly by spreading their folded precursors at once. In order to do so, we needed to "create a folded structure" that would have the correct shape when inflated, and the principle was the subject of our research; by the fourth year, we had pretty much figured out how to fold a beetle, so in the fifth year, we analyzed the folding of a horned owl with a more complex morphology. The basics were a combination of "rough folds" and "fine wrinkles," as is common with beetles, but they differed in that the cell sheets of the protoplasm contracted rapidly after they detached from the larval shell, and the process of contraction produced a rough shape. This is a new discovery in itself, and we will analyze it in more detail in the future.

Free Research Field

数理形態学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

理学的な意義：昆虫の形態がどのようにしてできるのかについての、基本的な原理の解明につながる。形態形成の研究は多数あるが、マクロな形態をダイレクトに説明できるようなモデルはほとんど存在せず、本研究により「折り畳み法」の提案は、極めて画期的なものである。
応用的な意義：昆虫は、膨らませると特定の３D形態をとる袋を、折りたたんだ状態で作る。この原理は、狭い空間で３Dの形態を作るための新しい建築工法につながるかもしれない。