The FY2012 Narishige Zoological Science Promotion Award Selection Committee held a meeting at the Zoological Society secretariat on Wednesday, May 9, and as a result of careful deliberation among five applications, decided to award the FY2012 Narishige Zoological Science Promotion Award to member Yasuko Akiyama-Oda. The reasons for selection are attached as well.
Akiyama-Oda Yasuko JT Biohistory Research Hall
Award Title: Research on Body Axis Formation in the Common House Spider
Zoological Society of Japan
| Reasons for Ms. Yasuko Akiyama-Oda receiving the Narishige Animal Science Award During her graduate school days, Dr. Akiyama-Oda conducted functional analysis of the gcm (glial cell missing) gene using Drosophila. However, not content with Drosophila, after obtaining her degree she began establishing a new model arthropod with her own hands. Consequently, she succeeded in breeding the common house spider in the laboratory and began developmental research using it. Furthermore, by successfully establishing RNA interference using microinjection, she made it possible to analyze the developmental mechanisms of the common house spider at the gene level and began investigating the mechanisms of body axis formation. As a result, it was revealed that the body axis formation mechanism of the common house spider is significantly different from that of Drosophila, despite using similar actors. Specifically, it was discovered that the cumulus, which has been thought for 50 years to be involved in spider embryo body axis formation, is (1) a population of cells expressing the dorsal inducer Dpp, and (2) the movement of these cells from the pole of the spherical egg to the equator breaks radial symmetry and establishes bilateral symmetry. Furthermore, it was revealed that in the common house spider, (1) Hedgehog plays a major role in anteroposterior axis formation, and (2) the coordination between Hedgehog regulation and the movement of Dpp-expressing cells creates the anteroposterior and left-right axes. This highly original research, which started from establishing the experimental system, is expected to make further progress in the future and is well-worthy of the Narishige Zoological Science Award. |
