市ヶ谷リベラルアーツセンター（ILAC）ILAC Course

【Course outline】
The life of a human being begins with the encounter between the "male" and "female," which are the parents, and after growing up, the human being repeats the same process as the parents, but the grown individual eventually meets the fate of "aging death.” However, if we look at all living organisms, we find that single-celled organisms, which have a simple structure, multiply by division, so there is no "aging death" and no "male and female differentiation". Therefore, it is thought that in the early stages of life, there was a unicellular stage in which there was neither aging death or male and female differentiation, and that both appeared during the evolution of multicellular organisms. One could argue that exploring these evolutionary processes would require investigating conditions 1 to 2 billion years ago, when eukaryotes emerged, but this is not possible. However, since there are extant organisms of various evolutionary stages in the green algal group “volvocine lineage” (Volvox and its related species), ranging from unicellular ones to complex multicellular bodies with "aging death" and "male and female genders," these evolutions can be studied by comparing the extant organisms. To this end, research is progressing by collecting these organisms from natural fields, establishing culture strains, and using cutting-age biological techniques. The aim of this class is to understand such diversity and evolution related to "aging death" and "sex" by focusing on members of the volvocine lineage. For this purpose, it is necessary to understand how to collect naturally growing members of volvocine species and what kind of organisms the volvocine species are. In addition, the evolution of “aging death” and “male and female genders” is related to "multicellularity," and studies related to multicellularity using the volvocine species will also be presented. The history of our ancestors more than a billion years ago, when multicellular organisms evolved, is that they had neither "aging death" nor "male and female differentiation," but this cannot be directly explored. However, we hope you will understand that this history can be inferred from studies using organisms belonging to the volvocine lineage. From time to time, we will also introduce related studies by Nozaki's group.
【Learning Objectives】
We will understand that two critical processes that cannot be avoided in the human life span, "female-male encounter" and "old age and death," were acquired during the evolution of our ancient ancestors into multicellular organisms, and that unicellular organisms without these processes exist today. In addition, we will focus on the green algal group “volvocine lineage” (Volvox and its related species), which is a model organism group for the study of sex evolution and multicellularity, and introduce research related to these two evolutionary events, but we will also explain what the volvocine lineage is basically like, and how to collect these organisms in the field and establish laboratory cultures. The course will also provide an understanding of the field collection of these organisms and how to establish culture strains in the laboratory. In addition, the genome information of representative species of the volvocine lineage is publicly available, and genome information can be researched free of charge via the Internet. Therefore, students will also learn basic methods to search for the presence of target genes in the organisms of interest.
【Learning activities outside of classroom】
The standard preparation and review time for this class is 2 hours each. Materials to be used in class will be presented in the "Teaching Materials" section of the Learning Support System in advance, so students are expected to prepare well in advance. Students are expected to review the contents of the class and answer the assignments given in the class without making mistakes. Please spend at least 4 hours per class on preparation and review.
【Grading Criteria /Policy】
An assignment/inquiry will be given after each class, and grading will be based on the evaluation score of 12-14 assignments, each assignment is worth 10 points, and the total score for 12-14 assignments is 120-140 points.

日本語 / Japanese