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RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research Sexual Reproduction System RIKEN ECL Research Unit

RIKEN ECL Unit Leader: Mariko Kikuchi (Ph.D.)

Research Summary

Mariko Kikuchi

Organisms have evolved diverse reproductive modes, including gonochorism, sex change, and gynogenesis. These modes have independently and repeatedly evolved across different lineages. Meanwhile, gametogenesis, the foundation of reproduction, is a tightly controlled process involving coordinated molecular pathways. How such diverse reproductive modes have repeatedly evolved despite this intricate machinery remains a major question. We focus on “functional modules” underlying gametogenesis and aim to reveal how their combinations and reorganization enable the evolution of reproductive modes, thereby elucidating the evolutionary principles governing reproductive diversity.

Main Research Fields

  • Biology

Related Research Fields

  • Agricultural Sciences
  • Biological Sciences
  • Developmental biology-related
  • Morphology and anatomical structure-related
  • Evolutionary biology-related

Keywords

  • Sex
  • Reproduction
  • Gametogenesis
  • Fish
  • Functional Module

Selected Publications

Papers with an asterisk(*) are based on research conducted outside of RIKEN.

  • 1. *Kikuchi M, Yoshimoto M, Ishikawa T, et al.
    "Sexually dimorphic dynamics of the microtubule network in medaka (Oryzias latipes) germ cells."
    Development 151, dev201840 (2024)
  • 2. *Kikuchi M and Tanaka M.
    "Functional Modules in Gametogenesis."
    Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology 10, 914570 (2022)
  • 3. *Kameyama S, Niwa T, Kikuchi M, et al.
    "Medaka terb1 mutant displays defects of synaptonemal complex formation and sexual difference in gametogenesis."
    Zoological Science 41, 314-322 (2024)
  • 4. *Kikuchi M, Nishimura T, Ishishita S, et al.
    "foxl3, a sexual switch in germ cells, initiates two independent molecular pathways for commitment to oogenesis in medaka."
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 177, 12174-12181 (2020)
  • 5. *Kikuchi M, Nishimura T, Saito D, et al.
    "Novel components of germline sex determination acting downstream of foxl3 in medaka."
    Developmental Biology 445, 80-89 (2019)

Related Links

Lab Members

Principal investigator

Mariko Kikuchi
RIKEN ECL Unit Leader

Contact Information

Developmental Biology Building A
2-2-3 Minatojima-minamimachi,
Chuo-ku, Kobe,
Hyogo 650-0047, Japan
Email: mariko.kikuchi.zu@riken.jp

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