Molecular Life History Laboratory

Kuraku Group

Decoding evolution through the mechanism of genomic readout

Faculty

KURAKU, Shigehiro
Professor

skuraku@nig.ac.jp

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KAWAGUCHI, Akane
Assistant Professor

akane.kawaguchi@nig.ac.jp

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OGAWA, Yohei

　Project Assistant Professor

yohei.ogawa@nig.ac.jp

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 Lab HP

Research Summary

Our group aims to infer the molecular-level history of com-plex life, based on molecular phylogenetic approaches to evo-lutionarily dissecting biodiversity with increasing knowledge of cellular events from genome-wide profiling. We mainly focus on vertebrates including elusive wildlife with unique phenotypes. Our interests are categorized into these themes.

  1. Deciphering the evolutionary history of genomes
  2. Formulating genome evolution by referring to cellular events
  3. Advancing genome-wide data acquisition and analysis methods
The FoxG group of genes analyzed as a proxy of the whole genome. These genes have different retention patterns (A), evolutionary rates of the genes and flanking genomic regions (B and C, respectively), and embryonic expression domains (D, in catshark embryos). Their inter-relationship and its orchestration within a genome remain largely unexplored. Our group tackles this sort of questions across different genes, biological processes, and animal lineages, to bridge a gap between genotypic and phenotypic evolution.

Selected Publications

  • Kryukov K, Nakahama N, Kuraku S. Genome assembly catalog for species in the Japanese Red List: unlocking endangered biodiversity through genomic inventory. F1000Res. 2024 Jul 22;13:583.
    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2513676122
  • Kuraku S. Enigmatic Nodal and Lefty gene repertoire discrepancy: Latent evolutionary history revealed by vertebrate-wide phylogeny. Dev Dyn. 2024 Apr 22.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tig.2025.03.007
  • Sato M, Fukuda K, Kadota M, Makino-Itou H, Tatsumi K, Yamauchi S, Kuraku S. Chromosomal DNA sequences of the Pacific saury genome: versatile resources for fishery science and comparative biology. DNA Res. 2024 Apr 1;31(2):dsae004.
    https://doi.org/10.1002/dvdy.710
  • Yamaguchi K, Koyanagi M, Sato K, Terakita A, Kuraku S. Whale shark rhodopsin adapted to deep-sea lifestyle by a substitution associated with human disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Mar 28;120(13):e2220728120.
    https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.149793.2