AS-HOPE report

Number:AS-22-G018

Collaboration and participation in the joint meeting of the German and Japanese societies of developmental biology to elucidate the evolutional process of regulatory mechanism of the stem cell.

Report:CHIAKI KOJIMA

Date:2011/03/22 - 2011/03/28

I am investigating a freshwater sponge, Ephydatia fluviatilis. The sponge phylum is thought to be the most evolutionarily ancient multicellular organisms and I am studying their stem cell regulating mechanism and the evolution of the stem cell system in metazoans. Sponges have archeocytes, pluripotent stem cells, choanocytes, differentiated cells trapping nutrients and making water currents inside their body. We have proposed a model in which archeocytes and choanocytes constitute the stem cell system in E. fluviatilis. I need to gain knowledge about stem cells in various animals for my study and I visited the Max Planck Institute and participated in the Joint Meeting of the German and Japanese Societies of Developmental Biology held in The Dresden University of Technology to learn cutting-edge researches using various organisms including some evolutionarily ancient metazoans. Germany has a long history of Zoology and German researchers use various animals for their studies. I obtained knowledge about research using familiar animals including C. elegans, Drosophila, Zebrafish and Xenopus, Cnidarians including Hydra and Nematostella and unfamiliar animals including Platynereis dumerilii, which is a kind of sand worm, beetles including Trinolium castaneum and Gryllus bimaculatus, and so on. Research related to establishment of experimental methods including generating transgenic Flatworms gave me hints and stimulation to advance my study to establish methods of gene introduction using E. fluviatilis. Through discussions in English with many foreign researchers using unfamiliar animals during the poster session, I gained great knowledge of the backgrounds of researches, experimental techniques, the mode of life and feeding procedures of these animals. It was a great experience to hear about the research of foreign researchers and to discuss with them in English.

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