Zoological Society of Japan
Takayuki Takahashi, Chair of the Academic Award Selection Committee

2012 Zoological Society of Japan Award

There were seven applicants. Although zoology consists of a wide range of academic fields, most of the applicants were outstanding researchers representing their respective fields, and they met the criteria stated in the selection regulations: "researchers who have achieved results that are academically extremely beneficial and make an important and remarkable contribution to the progress and development of zoology." As a result, the deliberation was conducted at a high level. Although the selection was extremely difficult, as a result of detailed deliberation on the applicants' research content, research achievements, and degree of contribution to the progress and development of zoology, it was decided to recommend two candidates to the Board of Directors.

Ritsu Kamiya, former professor, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo
Target research topic: "Study of dynein function and its regulatory mechanism in flagellar movement"

Reasons for the Recommendation
Member Ritsu Kamiya has achieved academically important results by discovering numerous findings through outstanding research on flagellar movement, which is conserved in almost all eukaryotes. Flagella have a well-known structural pattern (the 9+2 structure) and perform complex movements in which bends generated at the base repeatedly propagate as waves toward the tip. Although the nature of the underlying regulatory mechanism remained unelucidated, by using Chlamydomonas as an experimental material and adopting an approach of isolating and analyzing mutant strains with abnormalities in various dyneins, he discovered diverse dynein molecules. Furthermore, by analyzing changes in the motility of the mutant strains, he arrived at the groundbreaking discovery that wave motion—which cannot be achieved by the simple sliding of peripheral microtubules—is realized through the action of diverse dyneins. In the research field of flagellar movement, he has consistently led the world in molecular biological research on the structures responsible for movement. Numerous research results have been published in top international journals, proving that Japan's research on flagellar movement is at a world-leading standard. We judged that the research of Member Ritsu Kamiya, which has significantly advanced the "understanding of the molecular mechanism of flagellar movement universally present in animals," is worthy of the academic society award and have nominated him as a candidate.

Hideharu Numata, Professor, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University
Target research theme: "Study on environmental factors and biological clocks regulating animal life history"

Reasons for the Recommendation
Member Eiji Numata has engaged in research on diapause, photoperiodism, seasonal adaptation, and biological rhythms using insects as primary materials, discovering numerous findings and achieving academically significant results. Using various insects, he conducted detailed investigations into the effects of factors such as day length, temperature, and diet conditions on diapause, deepening the understanding of the relationship between environmental factors and diapause/life history. Furthermore, he was the first to demonstrate that clock genes are involved in insect photoperiodism. In addition, he clarified the existence of a "circannual clock," which forms the basis of "circannual rhythms"—biological rhythms with a period of approximately one year corresponding to seasonal changes—as well as the existence of "circatidal rhythms," which are rhythms with a period of approximately 12 hours driven by a mechanism distinct from circadian clocks. The discoveries of "circannual rhythms" and "circatidal rhythms" were pioneering worldwide, and following the publication of these results, new research has been developed aimed at elucidating the physiological mechanisms that control these rhythms. Numerous research results have been published in top international journals, leading research on a global level and demonstrating to the world the high academic standard of zoology in our country. We judged that Member Eiji Numata's research, which has greatly contributed to the development of zoology, is worthy of the Society Award and nominated him as a candidate.