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Gene Function and Morphology Lab (Ogasawara Lab)
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A lab that uses sea squirts to explore the evolution of body structure and function in chordates.
AboutAbout the lab
Looking through sea squirts, the evolution of animals comes into view.
The Gene Function and Morphology Lab studies how the form and function of animal bodies have evolved.
Its clues come from sea squirts and amphioxus, which belong to the same group as humans: the chordates.
Because animals live by taking in food, the lab focuses on the organs around the digestive tract and the genes that work in them.
It takes on unsolved questions, such as how the endostyle of sea squirts is connected to the thyroid gland of vertebrates.
Key terms
- Chordates
- A group of animals that have a supporting rod, the notochord, running along the back. It includes sea squirts, amphioxus, and vertebrates
- Endostyle
- A groove-shaped organ in the pharynx of sea squirts and amphioxus. It includes a part corresponding to the vertebrate thyroid gland
- Gill slits
- Openings lined up in the wall of the pharynx. They are one of the pharyngeal traits shared by chordates
NewsLab news
A student's paper was published online in genesis
A student's paper was published in Tissue and Cell
A student's paper was published in Zoological Science
A student's paper was published online in Cell and Tissue Research
A master's student received both the President's Award and the Dean of the Graduate School of Integrated Science and Engineering's Award as an outstanding student in academic performance
ResearchResearch themes
The form and function of animal bodies have evolved to suit the way each animal lives. Using chordates such as sea squirts and amphioxus, the lab investigates the evolution of the organs around the digestive tract and the genes that work in them.
*Illustrative imageStudying Adult Organs of Sea Squirts
Young juveniles of the sea squirt Ciona intestinalis are transparent, so their internal structures can be observed as they are. Taking advantage of this, the lab finds genes that are characteristically active in adult organs and investigates how they relate to organ function, structure, and development.
*Illustrative imageExploring the Evolution of Pharyngeal Organs
The lab focuses on the endostyle and the gill slits, pharyngeal organs shared by chordates. In sea squirts, amphioxus, lampreys, and acorn worms, it isolates and analyzes the genes expressed there to explore how body structures came about.
*Illustrative imageDiversity of Digestive Tract Morphology
The sequence of eating, digesting, absorbing, and excreting is common to animals in general, but the form and function of the digestive tract and its accessory organs vary greatly with diet and habitat. The lab investigates the genes that produce these differences.
*Illustrative imageDeveloping a Multi-Sample WISH System
The lab is developing a way to carry out whole-mount in situ hybridization (WISH), which shows in three dimensions where in the body a gene is active, on many samples simply, quickly, and reliably. It proposes the In Situ chip method, which exchanges solutions in a column with a double filter, and a simple way to prepare labeled RNA probes.
MembersFaculty
- Associate ProfessorMichio Ogasawara
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Siphon exhalant d'ascidie (Ciona intestinalis) (Ifremer )” Olivier Dugornay / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Studying Adult Organs of Sea Squirts: “Ciona intestinalis (YPM IZ 101854)” Eric A. Lazo-Wasem / CC0 (cropped)
- Exploring the Evolution of Pharyngeal Organs: “Branchiostoma lanceolatum” Hans Hillewaert / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Diversity of Digestive Tract Morphology: “Digestive system diagram mn” derivative work Elvonudinium / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Developing a Multi-Sample WISH System: “Hibridación in situ fluorescente con reordenamiento para ALK (FISH del gen ALK)” Manuel Medina Pérez / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Chromatin Metabolism Regulation Lab (Ura-Sassa Lab)): “Nucleosome 1KX5 2” By Richard Wheeler (Zephyris) 2005. / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Muscle Developmental Biology Lab (Sato Lab)): “Muscle Tissue Capilary in Skeletal Muscle ( )” Berkshire Community College Bioscience Image Library / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Biological Molecular Motor Lab (Ito-Haraguchi Lab)): “Chara coralllina var. kyusyuensis” Show_ryu / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Evolutionary Diversity Lab): “Polished slice of petrified wood” Michael Gäbler / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
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