Regulation mechanisms of metamorphosis depending to crowded condition

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K14796
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 45040:Ecology and environment-related
• Research Institution: Nihon University
• Principal Investigator: TOGA Kouhei 日本大学, 文理学部, 助手 (10726798)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 変態 / 密度依存 / 昆虫 / RNA-seq / 発生の可塑性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Metamorphic transition in Zophobas atratus is dependent on population density. We showed that larvae of Z. atratus maintained the information of isolated experience rather than canceled the experience during the re-crowding. In other words, larva of this species possess the timer program, which starts responding to isolated condition but stops responding to crowded condition. The present study suggests that regulation of ecdysteroid level rather than juvenile hormone is more crucial in the density dependent metamorphosis in Z. atratus. Highly expressed genes responding to isolated condition or crowded condition were identified in this study by RNA sequencing.

Free Research Field

生態発生学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ジャイアントミルワームの密度に依存した変態の抑制は，高密度で起こりやすい共食いを避ける機構である．密度は自身だけでなく他の個体の行動に依存して変動しうる．本研究は，周囲の密度に合わせて自身の成長を適切にフィットさせるのに必要な遺伝子とは何かを明らかにするものである．
明らかになった遺伝子は，昆虫の成長制御に関わるものであり，農業で昆虫の成長制御剤のターゲットになりうる．実際に，明らかになった遺伝子の中に，odorant binding proteinが入っており，これは殺虫剤のターゲットとして注目されている．