In the research group of Professor Hiroshi Wada of the University of Tsukuba Life and Environment Department, the role of the gene pax1 is the key to the formation of the "repeated structure" that is the basis of the medaka era in the early stage of medaka era formation. Announced that it was discovered.

 In the middle of the formation of the body shape of an organism, modular structures of similar shape are repeatedly created and reflected in the shape of tissues and organs in the subsequent development process.For example, the spine of a vertebrate is a series of vertebrae that are repeated like beads.This is the result of the development of a repeating structure called somites.Research is progressing on the mechanism by which repeated structures of somites are formed, and the basic molecular mechanism is being elucidated.In vertebrates, repeated structures are found in gills in addition to somites.In general teleost fish, four gills are lined up, but it is said that the mechanism of formation of such a repeated structure of gills has not been clarified until now.

 This time, pay attention to the gene called pax1 of medaka.It was clarified that the repeated pattern represented by the expression of this gene is the standard for creating the repeated structure that is the basis of the ella.Furthermore, when a mutant that lost the function of medaka pax1 was created using genome editing technology in collaboration with Tokyo Institute of Technology, it was found that gills were not formed.The most important finding is that the mutants of pax1 no longer show expression in the repeated pattern of pax1 itself.This study showed the central role of pax1 in the formation of the repetitive structure of Ella.

 In the future, based on this result, it is expected that understanding of the mechanism by which organisms create repeated structures will be advanced by clarifying how pax1 creates repeated patterns.

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