The research group of Assistant Professor Hirokazu Toju of the Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, and Assistant Professor Masato Yamamichi of the Hakubi Center has been involved in more and more species from among the innumerable species that exist in the ecosystem, and as a hub species. We have established a new method for discovering functional organisms.
According to Kyoto University, the research group focused on the fact that the carnivore's dung contains not only the DNA of the carnivore itself, but also the DNA of the prey that it ate.By collecting this DNA and estimating a large-scale network of predator-prey relationships, symbiosis, and parasitic relationships, it is possible to understand which species is a hub species related to many more species.
However, even if the species is a hub species in one area, it does not necessarily become a hub species in another area.Therefore, the research group says that it is necessary to select species that repeatedly appear as hub species in ecosystems in a wide range of regions.
Knowledge of ecosystems is becoming more important in dealing with stable food supply and environmental issues.However, when studying ecosystems in which innumerable species are intricately related, the issue was which species to study from.
Previous studies have limited knowledge of the entire ecosystem, as individual researchers have focused only on a limited group of organisms.But if you study DNA, one researcher can study the entire ecosystem.By taking this method, the research group will be able to elucidate the structure of the entire target ecosystem at once in the early stages of research, and find targets for which research budget and effort should be focused.
