2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Strategies to promote breeding of endangered animals based on genomic and cellular information

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	20H00420
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Review Section	Medium-sized Section 39:Agricultural and environmental biology and related fields
Research Institution	Kyoto University
Principal Investigator	Murayama Miho 京都大学, 野生動物研究センター, 教授 (60293552)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	亀井謙一郎京都大学, 高等研究院, 研究員 (00588262) 金子武人岩手大学, 理工学部, 准教授 (30332878) 福田智一岩手大学, 理工学部, 教授 (40321640) 大沼学国立研究開発法人国立環境研究所, 生物多様性領域, 主幹研究員 (50442695) 木下こづえ京都大学, 野生動物研究センター, 助教 (50724233)
Project Period (FY)	2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
Keywords	絶滅危惧種 / ゲノム / iPS細胞 / 生殖細胞 / 加齢
Outline of Final Research Achievements	We have surveyed the molecular basis that influence the reproductive success of endangered apex predators, the Tsushima leopard cat and the Japanese golden eagle, through genomic, cellular, and reproductive function analyses. 1) A highly accurate reference sequence of the Japanese golden eagle was created and supplemented with functional gene information. Data on genetic diversity, inbreeding, and effective population size were obtained. 2) Drug-induced immortalized cell lines derived from the Tsushima leopard cat were established. Conditions for the differentiation of primordial germ cells from Japanese golden eagle iPS cells were investigated. 3) A correlation between cortisol level in feces and behavior of the Tsushima leopard cat was examined. The fertilization capability of sperm recovered and frozen from the testicular tissue of deceased individuals was confirmed. Testicular tissue was excised and cryopreserved from deceased Japanese golden eagles.
Free Research Field	動物遺伝学
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	希少種の繁殖では加齢やストレスが障壁となるが、これらに関する内分泌学的知見は少ない。特に野生由来の個体は外見では正確な年齢の把握が難しい。DNAメチル化検出による年齢推定は、近年法医学分野で注目されており、野生動物への応用例は少ない。年齢推定とホルモン分析、生殖細胞機能の解析を合わせることで、繁殖適齢期が明らかになる。メチル化は時間的老化よりも生物学的老化を反映するため、身体状況と繁殖機能の関係をより明確に示すことが期待できる。さらに、生殖細胞の保存法の開発により、自然繁殖が困難な個体、未成熟または老齢死亡個体にも繁殖能力を付与することが可能になる。