NCKU research team uncovers missing link to how animal begin to live on land -Noodls
Tainan, Taiwan, July 31, 2013 Dr. Norihiro Okada, the professor emeritus of Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), and currently a research professor at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), southern Taiwan, reveals the mechanism of how animals began to live on land at a press conference held by NCKU Department of Life Sciences, July 31.
"Coelacanth is the key animal to study how animals begin to live on land because the species is the intermediate between fish and tetra pod," said Prof. Okada.
Coelacanth is a mysterious fish referred as living fossil for it was once thought to have been extinct for tens of millions of years, according to Prof. Okada.
And then coelacanth resurfaced in 1938 which has gave researchers an intriguing insight into the evolutionary process because of their slow evolutionary rate.
Prof. Okada also pointed out, "Although coelacanth lives in water, they have genes responsible for formation of limb of tetra pods. These genes might be involved in formation of internal robust joint-structures of coelacanth fin.
" Robust internal skeleton in coelacanth fin was generated in an ancestor of coelacanth. This might be used for fine-tuning of their position in water at that time. Then later in evolution, this structure was used for walking on land, Prof. Okada explained.
The study was conducted by an international research group including NCKU, Tokyo Tech, National Institute of Genetics, Japan, and Tokyo University and the research results were published July 22 in Genome Research, a U.S. scientific journal.
Prof. Tzen-Yuh Chiang from NCKU Department of Life Science who is also the director of the Research center of Ecological Agriculture said that the study has provided an important clue for researchers to elucidate how fish, which had lived in water, gradually started to live on land in the genome level.
Since the genetic diversity of coelacanth is very low, the conservation of the rare species is urgent, noted Prof. Okada. Enditem/
"Coelacanth is the key animal to study how animals begin to live on land because the species is the intermediate between fish and tetra pod," said Prof. Okada.
Coelacanth is a mysterious fish referred as living fossil for it was once thought to have been extinct for tens of millions of years, according to Prof. Okada.
And then coelacanth resurfaced in 1938 which has gave researchers an intriguing insight into the evolutionary process because of their slow evolutionary rate.
Prof. Okada also pointed out, "Although coelacanth lives in water, they have genes responsible for formation of limb of tetra pods. These genes might be involved in formation of internal robust joint-structures of coelacanth fin.
" Robust internal skeleton in coelacanth fin was generated in an ancestor of coelacanth. This might be used for fine-tuning of their position in water at that time. Then later in evolution, this structure was used for walking on land, Prof. Okada explained.
The study was conducted by an international research group including NCKU, Tokyo Tech, National Institute of Genetics, Japan, and Tokyo University and the research results were published July 22 in Genome Research, a U.S. scientific journal.
Prof. Tzen-Yuh Chiang from NCKU Department of Life Science who is also the director of the Research center of Ecological Agriculture said that the study has provided an important clue for researchers to elucidate how fish, which had lived in water, gradually started to live on land in the genome level.
Since the genetic diversity of coelacanth is very low, the conservation of the rare species is urgent, noted Prof. Okada. Enditem/
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