Sea grapes are mysterious creatures that are 1 to 10 cm long, even though they are made of only one cell.As a result of challenging the genome decoding of this huge single-celled seaweed for the first time in the world by making full use of the next-generation genome sequencer, the size of the genome of sea grapes is 20 million base pairs, which is the smallest class among farmed and cultivated agricultural and marine products. It became clear that the number of genes was only about 2,800.

　Furthermore, as a result of searching for genes specific to sea grapes, genes that control the intracellular arrangement of proteins are being lost, while genes that control the entry and exit of substances in the cell nucleus and green on land. It was found that the "TALE-type homeobox gene" that controls the living environment and the shape of leaves in plants is diversifying.This is achieved by the mysterious shaping of sea grapes by arranging proteins at necessary sites by a mechanism different from that of multicellular organisms and fine unicellular organisms, and by controlling the transport of substances by the cell nucleus itself. It suggests that there is.On the other hand, although sea grapes are completely different organisms from land plants, it was suggested that the TALE-type homeobox gene may be involved in growth as in land plants.

　By using the information on the genome sequence and genes of sea grapes decoded in this study, it will be possible to elucidate the cause of poor growth of sea grapes that plague aquaculture personnel, and to select and produce varieties that are unlikely to cause poor growth. Be expected.In addition, by establishing a research base to elucidate the mechanism by which giant unicellular organisms form complex shapes, it may be possible to freely control the size and number of grains in the future. ..

Paper information:[DNA Research] A siphonous macroalgal genome suggests convergent functions of homeobox genes in algae and land plants