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Nikaido Lab
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The lab uses DNA to investigate why distantly related organisms come to look alike.
AboutAbout the lab
Decoding the mechanisms behind biodiversity through DNA.
Nikaido Lab studies, at the level of DNA, the mechanisms of adaptive evolution, by which organisms change their form and way of life to suit their environments.
Organisms from distantly related lineages sometimes adapt to similar environments and acquire strikingly similar forms and ecology, a phenomenon called parallel evolution.
Using subjects such as cichlids living in East African lakes and mammals whose body hair has turned into spines, the lab searches for the shared mechanisms behind this phenomenon.
Using genome comparisons and gene expression analysis, the lab hopes to elucidate the mechanisms that created biodiversity.
Key terms
- Adaptive evolution
- The process by which organisms change their form and ecology over generations to suit the environment they live in
- Parallel evolution
- The process by which distantly related organisms adapt to similar environments and independently acquire similar forms and ecology
- Cichlid
- A group of fishes living in places such as the three great lakes of East Africa. Hundreds of species arose in each lake, making them a prime example of adaptive evolution
NewsLab news
A paper by Assistant Professor Nagasawa on the evolution of olfactory signaling genes in fishes was published
A paper on environmental adaptation in Polypterus, a fish that also spends time on land, was published
Research on lip hypertrophy in fish was featured in Science Tokyo News
A paper reporting the discovery of an olfactory receptor gene that functions in immune cells was published
An undergraduate student won an Excellent Presentation Award for a graduation research presentation
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to elucidate, at the level of DNA, the mechanisms of adaptive evolution that created biodiversity. Focusing on parallel evolution, in which distantly related organisms independently acquire similar traits, it conducts research mainly on fishes and mammals.
*Illustrative imageLip Hypertrophy in Cichlids
Each of the three great lakes of East Africa has its own endemic cichlids, yet species with “hypertrophied lips” appear in every lake. Through interspecific hybridization, QTL mapping, and comparison of whole-genome sequences, the lab investigates whether there is a shared mechanism across lakes.
*Illustrative imagePheromone Reception in Cichlids
Because cichlids have diverse body colors, much research has focused on vision, and it is not even known whether pheromones exist in these fish. The lab discovered that V1R, a candidate pheromone receptor gene, has diversified extensively across species, and is studying the mechanism of reception using adult fish.
*Illustrative imageHow Body Hair Turns into Spines
In mammals, the evolution of body hair into hard spines and quills has occurred independently many times, as in hedgehogs and porcupines. The inside of a spine has a dense structure with ribs running lengthwise and crosswise, and the lab investigates how it is formed, mainly by observing tissue sections.
*Illustrative imageEvolution of Pheromone Reception
The lab discovered ancV1R, a candidate pheromone receptor gene shared by almost all vertebrates, from ancient fishes to mammals. It is analyzing the role of this gene, which has been conserved for more than 400 million years.
MembersFaculty
Nikaido Lab's members consist of faculty, researchers, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorNikaido MasatoPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorTatsuki NagasawaPublications ↗
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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: “Curious young cichlids” Cethuyghe / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Lip Hypertrophy in Cichlids: “Cyprichromis kitumba” Mario Rubio García / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Pheromone Reception in Cichlids: “Ophthalmotilapia nasuta Kipili” Jocke Sternborn / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- How Body Hair Turns into Spines: “Atelerix albiventris, Coacalco, Mexico 250917P1” Cvmontuy / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Evolution of Pheromone Reception: “The spotted gar Lepisosteus oculatus New England Aquarium” EgorovaSvetlana / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (戸田研究室): “Volcano hummingbird (Selasphorus flammula) female in flight 2” Charles J. Sharp / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (加藤研究室): “Takifugu poecilonotus by DaijuAzuma” Daiju Azuma / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (マックグリン研究室): “Stromatolites in Sharkbay” Paul Harrison / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (梶川研究室): “Reverse transcriptase 1KLF” Thomas Splettstoesser (www.scistyle.com) / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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