Institute of Fisheries Science, NTU

Research Interests:
(1)The evolution of vertebrate peripheral nervous system: investigating the origin of vertebrate neural crest and placodes using amphioxus system
(2)Development of a continuous laboratory culturing system and research resources for amphioxus in Taiwan.
(3)Germ cell formation and the molecular composition of germ plasm in cephalochordates

One of the specific questions I would like to address with amphioxus as a model system is the origin of neural crest. Arising at the neural plate border, vertebrate neural crest cells undergo an epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) to become a migratory cell population that forms numerous differentiated cell types, including the craniofacial skeleton, much of the peripheral nervous system, and pigment cells of the skin. Evolution of the neural crest is a hallmark of vertebrates, responsible for many complex structures of the vertebrate head that are lacking in invertebrate chordates, like amphioxus. By comparing the genetic controls operating during development at the edges of the neural plate in embryos of amphioxus and traditional vertebrate models, we can start to pin-point which part of the gene regulatory network might have been changed over time.

近年重要著作 (2017- ):

Yong LW, Lu TM, Tung CH, Chiou RJ, Li KL, & Yu JK* (2021) Somite compartments in amphioxus & its implications on the evolution of the vertebrate skeletal tissues. Front Cell Dev Biol, 9:607057.

Lin CY, Yu JK*, & Su YH* (2021) Evidence for BMP-mediated specification of primordial germ cells in an indirect-developing hemichordate. Evol & Dev, 23:28-45.

Lin CY, Lu MYJ, Yue JX, Li KL. Le Pétillon Y, Yong LW, Chen YH, Tsai FU, Lyu YF, Chen CY, Hwang SPL, Su YH*, & Yu JK* (2020) Molecular asymmetry in the cephalochordate embryo revealed by single-blastomere transcriptome profiling. PLOS Genetics, 16:e1009294.

Simakov O*, Marletaz F, Yue JX, O'Connell B, Jenkins J, Br&t A, Calef R, Tung CH, Huang TK, Schmutz J, Satoh N, Yu JK, Putnam NH, Green RE, & Rokhsar DS* (2020) Deeply conserved synteny resolves early events in vertebrate evolution. Nat Ecol Evol, 4:820-830.

Su YH*, Chen YC, Ting HC, Fan TP, Lin CY, Wang KT, & Yu JK* (2019) BMP controls dorsoventral & neural patterning in indirect-developing hemichordates providing insight into a possible origin of chordates. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 116(26):12925-12932.

Kawaguchi M, Sugiyama K, Matsubara K, Lin CY, Kuraku S, Hashimoto S, Suwa Y, Yong LW, Takino K, Higashida S, Kawamura D, Yu JK & Seki Y*(2019) Co-option of the PRDM14–CBFA2T complex from motor neurons to pluripotent cells during vertebrate evolution. Development, 146: dev168633.

Marletaz F, Firbas PN, Maeso I*, Tena JJ, Bogdanovic O, Perry M, Wyatt CDR, de la Calle-Mustienes E, Bertr& S, Burguera D, Acemel RD, van Heeringen SJ, Naranjo S, Herrera-Ubeda C, Skvortsova K, Jimenez-Gancedo S, Aldea D, Marquez Y, Buono L, Kozmikova I, Permanyer J, Louis A, Albuixech-Crespo B, Le Petillon Y, Leon A, Subirana L, Balwierz PJ, Duckett PE, Farahani E, Aury JM, Mangenot S, Wincker P, Albalat R, Benito-Gutierrez E, Canestro C, Castro F, D'Aniello S, Ferrier DEK, Huang S, Laudet V, Marais GAB, Pontarotti P, Schubert M, Seitz H, Somorjai I, Takahashi T, Mirabeau O, Xu A, Yu JK, Carninci P, Martinez-Morales JR, Crollius HR, Kozmik Z, Weirauch MT, Garcia-Fern&ez J, Lister R, Lenhard B, Holland PWH, Escriva H*, Gomez-Skarmeta JL*, & Irimia M* (2018) Amphioxus functional genomics & the origins of vertebrate gene regulation. Nature. 564:64-70.

Nakashima K*, Kimura S, Ogawa Y, Watanabe S, Soma S, Kaneko T, Yamada L, Sawada H, Tung CH, Lu TM, Yu JK, Villar-Briones A, Kikuchi S, & Satoh N (2018) Chitin-based barrier immunity & its loss predated mucus-colonization by indigenous gut microbiota. Nat Commun, 9(1):3402.

Zieger E, Garbarino G, Robert NSM, Yu JK, Croce JC, C&iani S, & Schubert M* (2018) Retinoic acid signaling & neurogenic niche regulation in the developing peripheral nervous system of the cephalochordate amphioxus. Cellular & Molecular Life Sciences, 75(13):2407-2429.

Hu H, Uesaka M, Guo S, Shimai K, Lu TM, Li F, Fujimoto S, Ishikawa M, Liu S, Sasagawa Y, Zhang G, Kuratani S, Yu JK, Kusakabe TG, Khaitovich P, Irie N*, & the EXP&E Consortium (2017) Constrained vertebrate evolution by pleiotropic genes. Nat Ecol Evol, 1(11):1722-1730.

Yong LW, Bertr& S, Yu JK, Escriva H, & Holland ND* (2017) Conservation of BMP2/4 expression patterns within the Glade Branchiostoma (amphioxus): Resolving interspecific discrepancies. Gene Expression Patterns, 25-26:71-75.

Su YH* & Yu JK (2017) EvoDevo: Changes in developmental controls underlying the evolution of animal body plans. Developmental Biology, 427(2):177-178. SI.

Kozmikova I* & Yu JK* (2017) Dorsal-ventral patterning in amphioxus: current underst&ing, unresolved issues, & future directions. International Journal of Developmental Biology, 61(10-12):601-610.