Genomic EvoDevo Lab

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2018

• Traditional year-end party (December 28, 2018)
  The traditional party to cerebrate the work of the year held. Many students and professors from other labs joined. To read more on the University's website.


• Paper published online (December 25, 2018)
  Paper published online on the journal Development, Growth & Differentiation. The M1 students Seitaro Denbo and Katsutoshi Aono, the M2 student Takaaki Kai, our ex-student Rei Yagasaki, our collaborator I?aki Ruiz‐Trillo and the PI Hiroshi Suga presented a new strategy to improve draft genome sequences by fully exploiting the NGS data. By implementing the strategy, we successfully improve the genome sequence of Capsaspora, a unicellular holozoan. The PDF is available here.


• Pre-presentation of graduation projects (December 5-7, 2018)
  The 4th year students of the lab, together with those in two other labs (Yagi lab and Fukunaga lab), presented the intermediate report of the graduation projects. The critical comments from the audience will help the actual presentatin on February.


• Current Biology paper published (December 3, 2018)
  The paper from Kamran Shalchian-Tabrizi's lab in Norway has revealed the presence of the animal-type microRNA machinery in protozoans. The PI contributed to the experiment, analysis, and writing the manuscript, especially on the unicellular holozoan Sphaeroforma arctica. The PDF is available here.


• Student presented at MBSJ meeting (November 28, 2018)
  The M1 student Katsutoshi Aono gave an oral presentation on his project "Notch signalling in unicellular context" in the workshop "Context-dependent mechanism of organogenesis control by Notch signalling" of the 41th MBSJ meeting organized by Dr. Yamakawa (Osaka Univ) and Dr. Kitagawa (International University of Health and Welfare). He presented a poster as well. Congratulations!


• Grant report at YSF (November 10, 2018)
  The PI "finally" did the final report of the Long-term Oversea Fellowship of Yamada Science Foundation which he received 15 (!) years ago. Not only stimulating were the topics presented by other speakers, but also encouraging were the committee members.


• Seminar at BRH (November 9, 2018)
  Invited by Dr. Hiroki Oda, the PI gave a talk at Biohistory Research Hall in Takatsuki, Osaka. Discussion on how scientists should balance work and life never ended until midnight with a help of "a bit of" alcohol.


• Naito Conference (October 2, 2018)
  The PI presented at the 46th Naito Conference held at Hokkaido. Greatest meeting since he's back to Japan. The line-up of invited speakers are marvelous, including Dr. Sean Carroll, the evo-devo rock star, and Drs. Grant & Grant of Darwin finch. Grad receiving positive reactions to our poster!


• Symposium on Urushi, Japanese lacquer (September 29, 2018)
  A symposium on the culture, science, and promotion of urushi, Japanese lacquer, was held. The PI talked about the on-going genome and RNAseq project.


• Book published (September 13, 2018)
  The book "Ame-ba no Hanashi (Talking on Amoebae)" has been published. The PI wrote a chapter about the evolution of multicellularity. Link to Amazon


• Meeting at Tokyo (August 22, 2018)
  The annual meeting of the Society of Evolutionary Studies Japan was held in Tokyo University. The M1 student Katsutoshi Aono gave his first oral presentation in an official scientific meeting. Takaaki Kai (M2) and Seitaro Denbo (M1) presented their projects by posters.


• Sampling at Kyoto (August 16, 2018)
  The yearly urushi sampling event coupled with a BBQ celebration of Pola award to the NPO Tanba Urushi was carried out.


• An intense week with 6 Barcelona students ended (July 18, 2018)
  The lab and Shobara campus finished the very intense week with 6 students from Barcelona, with a huge success. We did, together with the students, professors and staffs from the university (plus sometimes with tourists) the scientific seminars, human tower workshop, and the symposium on Catalan separatism issue. Building a human tower in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome marked one of the best moments during the week. Thanks and we wish a good luck to Cormac Hally, Jordi Pegueroles, Santi "B" Rios, Lisandra Benitez, Marta de Castro, and Lluis Via.


• Annual Meeting of JSDB+JSCB (June 8, 2018)
  The Joint Annual Meeting of Society of Cell Biology and Society of Developmental Biology was held in Tokyo. The PI was invited by Dr. Hiroki Oda and Dr. Yasushi Izumi and presented as a symposium speaker.


• Talk on development of beetle's horn (June 4, 2018)
  Dr. Teruyuki Niimi from National Institute of Basic Biology gave a talk on the molecular development of beetle's horn. With the expression of a gene with a sexy name (double sex), the beetles can extend or retract their horns depending on their sex. Very exciting talk!


• Capsaspora transformation paper published (May 12, 2018)
  The long-awaited protocol of transforming Capsaspora is on-line in the journal Development.. The PI Hiroshi Suga and the ex-student Azusa Nakata were involved. Congratulations Helena, Núria & al.! In addition, the PI greatly respects the initial breakthrough brought by Núria Sánchez-Pons (who obtained the first glowing Capsa by electroporation) and Arnau Sebé Pedrós (who first suggested the Ca-Glycerol protocol).


• Meeting at National Institute of Genetics (April 15, 2018)
  Hiroshi Suga introduced the lab's work in a meeting at National Institute of Genetics at Mishima (Shizuoka), organized by Dr. Miura (Tokyo Univ), Dr. Tanaka (Tokyo Tec), and Dr. Kitano (NIG).


• Paper published in J Life Environ Sci (Mar 31, 2018)
  We published a paper about the historical geograpy of urushi, a traditional Japanese lacquer. The PDF (in Japanese) is available here.


• Paper published in Scientific Reports (Mar 29, 2018)
  We published a paper on the Src tyrosine kinase signaling of the ichthyosporean Creolimax, in collabolation with Dr. Todd Millar in Stony Brook University. The ex-students Kojiro Tokiyasu and Shuhei Murakami have also contributed. The PDF is available here.


• Moving on (Mar 23, 2018)
  The B4 lab members Katsutoshi Aono, Naoto Kunimura, Kaho Satoh, Seitaro Denbo, Moena Hatakeyama, and Arisa Kawai finished the four (or more) years in the University. Congratulations!


• Catalan independence (Mar 17, 2018)
  The PI survived the symposium "Independence Movement of the World" organised by Dr. Kamizuru in the Prefectural University of Hiroshima, giving a talk on Catalan independence! Very, very special symposium indeed. 


• Ceremony awarding the support from Novartis (March 9, 2018)
  The PI was awarded the support from Novartis Foundation. The ceremony was held in Tokyo together with the cerebration of the 30th anniversary of the foundation.


• Presentation of graduation projects (February 7, 2018)
  Naoto Kunimura, Kaho Sato, Katsutoshi Aono, Moena Hatakeyama, Seitaro Denbo, and Arisa Kawai presented their graduation projects. Well done folks!

2017

• Year-end Party (December 27, 2017)
  Our traditional year-end party was held, with table tennis and PS4 competitions.


• Pre-presentation of graduation projects (December 8, 2017)
  The 4th year students, together with those in two other labs (Yagi group and Fukunaga group), presented the preliminary results of their graduation projects. We ended up with a crazy party as usual.


• Purple haze on the water (November 10, 2017)
  The morning chill produces vapors in Hagera pond in the campus. A typical winter view in this region.


• Meeting at National Institute of Genetics (October 14, 2017)
  Hiroshi Suga gave a talk in a meeting at National Institute of Genetics at Mishima, Shizuoka.


• Adéu! (October 13, 2017)
  Andrej and Alberto finished the two weeks stay. Time flies! We wish them a luck and great success.


• Welcome party & seminar (October 6, 2017)
  Andrej and Alberto presented their projects. The intensive question and answer was followed by a welcome party with a live violin play by Kazusa Shiroiwa (B3).


• "Internationalization" continues (October 3, 2017)
  The guest scientists Andrej Ondracka and Alberto Pérez Posada started to work in the lab. They stay for two weeks, working on a couple of reasonably sized projects. We are excited to have them in the lab!


• High school lecture (September 27, 2017)
  Hiroshi Suga gave a lecture at Miyahara highschool in Kure-city. Approximately 20 students attended.


• Fins aviat! (September 22, 2017)
  The guest scientists from Barcelona left the lab, after the fruitful two weeks with experiments, discussion, and laugh. Thanks a lot for being with us! We will host another group in a week.


• Welcome seminar & party (September 15, 2017)
  Núria, Ola, and Sebas presented their projects and latest results. Intensive discussion was followed by a recreation (where is where) and a party with sushi. Great fun indeed!


• Guests from Barcelona (September 12, 2017)
  Núria Ros, Aleksandra Kozyczkowska, and Sebastián Rodorigo came to the lab as guest scientists from I?aki Ruiz-Trillo's lab in Barcelona, with the generous International Exchange Grant from the Prefectural University of Hiroshima. We are spending exciting time, showing the latest results, discussing on the projects, exchanging the protocols.


• Annual Meeting of Evolutionary Biology (August 25, 2017)
  The 19th meeting of the Society of Evolutionary Studies was held at Kyoto University. Hiroshi Suga presented the lab's work in the symposium. Takaaki Kai (M1) and Mitsuhiro Fukuhara (M1) presented their projects in the poster session.


• #2 sampling at Kyoto (August 23, 2017)
  The PI Hiroshi Suga visited Yakuno again to collect the samples of urushi lacquer tree, collaborating with Dr. Shiina at Kyoto Prefectural University. The team took samples from three trees which were massively "bleeding" after nearly 20 times (every 4 days) of scarring. Needless to say, the team never missed the pre-sampling party at Yakuno-so.


• eLife paper published (July 21, 2017)
  A paper describing a pile of accumulated genome sequences of unicellular holozoans was published in eLife, one of the best journals in biology. Congratulations Xavi & al!


• Reached 7,000 visitors! (June 22, 2017)
  Our websites has got 7,000 visitors (NOT the access number) in less than 3 years. The accesses are scattered around the grobe, with the visitors from 95 countries. Proud!


• Sampling at Kyoto (June 6, 2017)
  The PI Hiroshi Suga visited Yakuno, north Kyoto, to collect the samples of urushi lacquer tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum). It is a collaboration project with Dr. Takashi Shiina's lab in Kyoto Prefectural University. The lacquer scraper Mr. Yoshiaki Okamoto made the first scar on the tree skin after a tiny but solemn ceremony. The process was reported by a local newspaper.


• Final Report of FD Promotion Programme (May 24, 2017)
  The PI Hiroshi Suga gave a talk on the clicker system that he developed with the support from the Faculty Development Programme of the University. The software (Kéndai Pochi) is available at http://www.pu-hiroshima.ac.jp/~hsuga/software.


• Veritas NON semper una est! (May 22, 2017)
  The restructuring plan of our university is slowly emerging after one year of silence since the first media leakage (a nice strategy, eh?). It turned out that the Shobara campus (where we are) will be the primary victim. They (well, who?) try to change the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences into something that just serves for the "region" (what's the definition of "region"? do they really know what the people there wish?), denying any of our effort to fight at the frontline of science. Okay, we admit that our department is not the world-best, but have they ever looked how much the professors and students here are working? Science needs diversity, which is where the word "university" comes from. They symbolically claim that 'Veritas semper una est (the truth is always one)', which in many cases is false in biology.


• Welcome BBQ (May 12, 2017)
  The traditional BBQ in Bihoku Hillside Park to welcome the new B3 students into the lab.


• Lecture on Genome Editing (May 8, 2017)
  We invited the collaborator Dr. Tetsushi Sakuma from Hiroshima University, who gave a talk on genome editing. Overwhelming progress in this field!


• Visit to Kyoto (March 31, 2017)
  The PI visited Dr. Shiina's lab in Kyoto Prefectural University for future collaboration. We are excited about a new project starting!


• Graduation (March 24, 2017)
  The 8 B4 students (including two >=B6s) Yukino Ohara, Takaaki Kai, Naofumi Koide, Mitsuhiro Fukuhara, So Miyamoto, Hiroki Mukaihara, Shuhei Murakami, and Rei Yagasaki graduated the University. Congratulations!


• Trip to rainy Nagasaki (March 2, 2017)
  The PI visited the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, within the framework of MEXT Joint Research. The discussion with Dr. Kentaro Kato was intensive. We've got our first multicellular pet, Biomphalaria glabrata!


• Weather behaves (February 10, 2017)
  They say the life in Shobara is prestigious...and indeed it is!


• Graduation presentation (February 7, 2017)
  Naofumi Koide, Yukino Ohara, Takaaki Kai, Mitsuhiro Fukuhara, Hiroki Mukaihara, Shuhei Murakami, and Rei Yagasaki finished the presentations of the graduation projects. Well done everybody! The party was crazier than ever.

2016

• Dr. Shalchian-Tabrizi's visit (December 20, 2016)
  Prof. Dr. Shalchian-Tabrizi from Oslo University visited our lab, discussing the possibility of spending sabbatical in Hiroshima. The Vikings were warmly treated with local foods.


• MBSJ meeting 2016 (November 30, 2016)
  The 39th "Mega" meeting of Molecular Biology Society of Japan took place at Yokohama. Azusa Nakata (M1) presented her project.


• ICZ & ZSJ meeting 2016 (November 17, 2016)
  The Joing event of International Congress of Zoology and the annual meeting of Zoological Society of Japan was held at Okinawa. The PI Hiroshi Suga and Rei Yagasaki (B4) presented the project. Great meeting indeed!


• Sampling at Livestock Research Institute (November 9, 2016)
  For a metagenomic analysis, Kaho Satoh (B3) and Hiroshi Suga collected feces samples at Okayama Livestock Research Institute with a kind help of Dr. Harutoshi Tsuda.


• Grant award ceremony in Tokyo (October 20, 2016)
  The PI Hiroshi Suga received a prestigious grant from Itoh Science Foundation. The ceremony was held in Tokyo.


• Naofumi leaving Shobara (September 30, 2016)
  Farewell party for Naofumi (B4), who finished his 5.5 years' Shobara life today. It however turned out that he continues coming to the lab from Kure almost everyday until January 2017.


• SESJ Annual Meeting 2016 (August 25, 2016)
  The PI Hiroshi Suga presented the works of the lab at the meeting of Evolutionary Studies Society Japan.


• Open Campus 2016 (August 7, 2016)
  We presented what a computer can do for biology, showing some bioinformatics analyses.


• Seminar by Dr. Agata (July 25, 2016)
  Dr. Kiyokazu Agata from Gakushuin University gave a talk on regeneration, focusing on what he learned from planarian regeneration and ideas how to integrate the acquired knowledge to regenerative medicine. The discussion (inevitably) heated up with alcohol.


• Takaaki back to the lab (April 11, 2016)
  Takaaki Kai (B4) has got back to work after a fruitful stay in Barcelona. Welcome back! And thank you very much Iñaki and Multicellgenomelab!


• Miyoshi R&D Seminar (March 24, 2016)
  The 16th Miyoshi R&D Seminar was taken place. The project of Yukino Ohara (B3) was presented.


• First alumni of the lab (March 18, 2016)
  Yuki Kimura, Masaaki Kobayashi, Kojiro Tokiyasu, and Azusa Nakata graduated University. The first alumni from Suga lab. Congratulations!


• Snowy March (March 1, 2016)
  March starts with heavy snow, which is in fact not surprising. A good news is that the plants are slowly blooming here and there.


• Takaaki left for Barcelona (February 29, 2016)
  The B3 student Takaaki Kai has set off for Barcelona. He will stay in Dr. Ruiz-Trillo's lab for a month, engaged in his graduation project. Bona sort!


• Graduation projects presented (February 9, 2016)
  The B4 students Yuki Kimura, Masaaki Kobayashi, Soh Miyamoto, Kohjiro Tokiyasu, and Azusa Nakata presented the graduation projects. Well done all (and the PI;-)!


• Summary of web access 2015 (January 31, 2016)
  The lab website got 4,872 sessions consisting of 8,168 pageviews last year, with Americans being our best "customers".


• Campus frozen (January 28, 2016)
  The exceptionaly warm winter was followed by a cold wave. Hagera pond in the campus have been frozen up.

2015

• Annual meeting of Molecular Biology Society (December 1-4, 2015)
  Hiroshi Suga, Azusa Nakata (B4), Kai Takaaki (B3), and Rei Yagasaki (B3) joined one of the largest meetings in Japan.


• First snow (November 27, 2015)
  Earlier than last winter, we enjoy/suffer the first snow on campus.


• Talk on evolution of the whale olfactory system (November 25, 2015)
  We invited Dr. Takushi Kishida from Kyoto University for the special seminar series. The topic is about the evolution of whales, especially focused on their oflaction. Excellent talk, indeed.


• Practice in presenting the graduate projects (November 12-13, 2015)
  The B4 students rehearsed the presentation of the graduate projects, together with Dr. Fukunaga's lab.


• Paper highlighted by Nature (October 30, 2015)
  Great news. Alex's eLife paper which Hiroshi Suga contributed is introduced by Nature Research Highlights.


• Creolimax comparative transcriptome (October 15, 2015)
  Alex's paper "Complex transcriptional regulation and independent evolution of fungal-like traits in a relative of animals", in which Hiroshi Suga is the second author has been published. Congrats Alex, Iñaki, and the coauthors!


• Mystic campus (October 6, 2015)
  The campus is deeply covered by mist for the first time after summer, suggesting a dramatic temperature drop at night. Autumn has come.


• Midterm report of the graduate thesis (September 11, 2015)
  The B4 students presented their works, preparing for the final reports planned on January 2016. BTW happy Catalunya day!


• 17th annual meeting of evolutionary studies (August 21, 2015)
  Hiroshi Suga presented the projects of the lab at Tokyo. Great meeting!


• Open campus (August 9, 2015)
  We demonstrated bioinformatics and explained our projects to high students. Here are the brief report on the official website and the video resuming the event.


• Lecture at high school (July 21, 2015)
  Hiroshi Suga gave a talk in Eishin High School at Fukuyama, explaining the mechanisms of evolution at the DNA level.


• Amoebidium genome will be re-sequenced (July 14, 2015)
  Our proposal of Amoebidium parasiticum genome re-sequencing was successfully accepted by the Genome Support consortium.


• Creolimax mitochondrial marker (June 11, 2015)
  Kojiro Tokiyasu (B4) has made a beautiful picture of growing Creolimax, our lovely model protist.


• Welcome new B3s! (May 15, 2015)
  The new B3 students were "warmly" welcomed on the year's hottest day, doing a barbecue.


• A perfect day in spring (May 8, 2015)
  After the hectic April, the campus has somehow turned calm. The best season of Nanatsuka hill starts.


• The book "Evolutionary Transitions to Multicellular Life" came out (April 9, 2015)
  The book "Evolutionary Transitions to Multicellular Life" (Springer) is finally on the market (Amazon). The PI Hiroshi Suga has contributed, writing a chapter.


• A review published (April 1, 2015)
  We have published a review in the Japanese journal Experimental Medicine.


• Azusa has returned (March 20, 2015)
  Azusa Nakata is back to the lab. She has spent great days in BCN. Thanks I?aki and Multicellgenomelab!


• ..and still winter (March 10, 2015)
  The sign of spring is in vain. The north-Hiroshima region is covered by snow.


• Nanatsuka Heights at 18:00 (March 6, 2015)
  Spring is approaching, still bright at 18:00.


• Azusa left for BCN (March 5, 2015)
  Azusa Nakata, an undergrad student of our lab, left for Barcelona, for a collaboration with Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo's lab. Good luck, Azusa!


• Symposium on Genome Science (January 20, 2015)
  Hiroshi Suga joined the international symposium "Expanding Frontiers of Genome Science II" held in Tokyo.

2014

• Freezing! (December 22, 2014)
  Another snowing day. The Hagera pond in the courtyard is turning to ice.
  
  
• Young researcher fair (December 17, 2014)
  Hiroshi Suga joined "Exibition of young research seeds" held in the PUH Satellite Campus.
  
  
• First snow in the University (December 3, 2014)
  After the short autumn, the long snow season has started. Still enjoyable at least now.
  
  
• Book on the origin of multicellularity (November 13, 2014)
  The book "Evolutionary Transitions to Multicellular Life" (Ruiz-Trillo & Nedelcu eds.), in which Hiroshi Suga is a contributed author, is now in production. The book will be published on early spring of 2015 with the ISBN 978-94-017-9641-5.
  
  
• Welcome party (October 31, 2014)
  Naofumi Koide, the new lab member, was warmly accepted.
  
  
• Autumn in the campus (October 24, 2014)
  Up on Nanatsuka hill, autumn has come. Look at the lovely-coloured tree leaves!
  
  
  
• Open seminar in the University (October 20, 2014)
  Hiroshi Suga presented his past work and future projects of the lab, invited by Dr. Kenji Fukunaga and Dr. Takashi Oku.
  
  
• Workshop "Genome Editing" (October 6-7, 2014)
  Naofumi Koide, Masaaki Kobayashi and Azusa Nakata participated the stimulating workshop "Genome Editing" held in Hiroshima city.
  
  
• Mecca of multicellularity evolution revisited (September 29, 2014)
  The PI Hiroshi Suga visited the Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo's lab in Barcelona. They discussed about the on-going and future collaborations, and renewed the friendship.
  
  
• Small living room constructed (September 18, 2014)
  We made a small relaxing corner in the lab, with sofas and a fridge. The lab is slowly getting confortable.
  
  
• Plankton meeting 2014 (September 4-6, 2014)
  We took part in the annual meeting of Japan Plankton Society held in Hiroshima University. Hiroshi Suga presented the project briefly.
  
  
• New member (August 28, 2014)
  Naofumi Koide, an undergrad, joined the lab. Welcome Naofumi!
  
  
• Open campus 2014 (August 3, 2014)
  The lab opened for the visitors to Shobara campus
  As a part of the open campus event in the faculty of life & environmental sciences, we accepted the visitors (mostly high school students) in the lab, explaining the projects and our methodologies of bioinformatics. Around 50 people including professional scientists visited us.
  
  
• Miquel visited the lab (July 28-29, 2014)
  A Catalan post-doc candidate came to Shobara
  Miquel Ràmia, a PhD student of Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, came to Miyoshi-Shobara region and visited the lab. We discussed about the future projects possibly starting from next spring. He also gave a talk entitled "Population genomics analysis of a single natural population of D. melanogaster". We hope that he will successfully get the grant and start his post-doc projects in Shobara.
  
  
• Towards single cell genomics study (July 11, 2014)
  Visit to National Research Institute of Fisheries and Environment
  Hiroshi Suga visited the National Research Institute of Fisheries and Environment and collected sea water samples. A lot of new and promising information about dinoflagellates, our next model for the future.
  
  
• Next generation sequencing seminar (June 12, 2014)
  Illumina NGS explained
  Kazuhito Ueno from Illumina co. gave a talk covering a broad range of the current NGS technologies.
  
  
• Sad news from Basel (June 3, 2014)
  The PI's former boss passed away
  Prof. Dr. Walter J. Gehring, with whom the PI Hiroshi Suga worked for more than 5 years, has passed away. We will never forget his enthusiathm to science and warm support to young scientists.
  
  
• Evolution of transposable elements (April 3, 2014)
  Our paper in MBE now online
  The paper "The Holozoan Capsaspora owczarzaki Possesses a Diverse Complement of Active Transposable Element Families" by Martin Carr (University of Huddersfield, UK) and Hiroshi Suga is now online, describing the unexpectedly diverse transposable elements in the genome of the filasterean Capsaspora owczarzaki. It was published in Genome Biology and Evolution. Although not signed the paper, Arnau Sebé-Pedrós and Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo, the former colleagues of Hiroshi Suga, have also contributed to this paper. Congratulations Martin! (and the lab, for the first publication after moving)
  
  
• The lab started (April 2, 2014)
  The lab started with the PI Hiroshi Suga
  We started the lab with Hiroshi Suga (PI) and 5 undergrads, Yuki Kimura, Masaaki Kobayashi, Kojiro Tokiyashu, Azusa Nakata, and So Miyamoto. Welcome to the lab!