Hiroaki Nakano - Assistant Professor

Current research project

Xenoturbella is a strange worm–like marine animal about 2 cm long, lacking typical bilaterian traits such as a through gut, gonads, coelomic cavities, and brain. Their phylogenetic position was long obscure, and they have been suggested to be flatworms, acoels, echinoderms, hemichordates, bryozoans, bivalves, primitive bilaterians, or primitive metazoans. Recent gene sequence analysis showed that they are deuterostomes, related to echinoderms and hemichordates.  To solve the problem of their phylogenetic position and to see how their simple body plan evolved, I am focusing on their development, reproduction, and morphology.  And through these studies, I also hope to gain new information on the ancestor and early evolution of deuterostomes, to which we humans belong.

Publications

Peer-reviewed papers
Nakano H, Amemiya S, Shiokawa K, & Taira M. (2000) RNA interference for the organizer-specific gene Xlim-1 in Xenopus embryos.  Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 274: (2) 434-439

Nakano H, Hibino T, Hara Y, Oji T, & Amemiya S. (2002) The behavior and the morphology of sea lilies with shortened stalks: Implications on the evolution of feather stars.  Zoological Science 19: (8) 961-964

Nakano H, Hibino T, Oji T, Hara Y, & Amemiya S. (2003) Larval stages of a living sea lily (stalked crinoid echinoderm) Nature 421: (6919) 158-160

Nakano H, Hibino T, Hara Y, Oji T, & Amemiya S. (2004) Regrowth of the Stalk of the Sea Lily, Metacrinus rotundus (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) Journal of Experimental Zoology, 301A: 464-471

Kohtsuka H & Nakano H. (2005) Development and Growth of a Feather Star Decametra tigrina (Echinodermata: Crinoidea), with emphasis on the morphological differences between adults and juveniles. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 85: 1503-1510

Stach T, Dupont S, Israelsson O, Fauville G, Nakano H, Kånneby T, & Thorndyke M. (2005) Nerve cells of Xenoturbella bocki (phylum uncertain) and Harrimania kupfferi (Enteropneusta) are positively immunoreactive to antibodies raised against echinoderm neuropeptides. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 85: 1519-1524

Nakano H, Murabe N, Amemiya S, & Nakajima Y. (2006) Nervous system development of the sea cucumber Stichopus japonicus. Developmental Biology 292: 205-212

Bourlat SJ, Juliusdottir, T, Lowe CJ, Freeman R, Aronowicz J, Kirschner M, Lander ES, Thorndyke M, Nakano H, Kohn AB, Heyland A, Moroz LL, Copley RR & Telford MJ (2006) Deuterostome phylogeny reveals monophyletic chordates and the new phylum Xenoturbellida. Nature 444: (7115) 85-88

Hara Y, Yamaguchi M, Akasaka K, Nakano H, Nonaka M, & Amemiya S. (2006) Expression patterns of Hox genes in larvae of the sea lily Metacrinus rotundus. Development, Genes, and Evolution 216: 797-809

Dupont S, Wilson K, Obst M, Sköld H, Nakano H, & Thorndyke MC. (2007) Marine ecological genomics: when genomics meets marine ecology. Marine Ecology Progress Series 332: 257-273

Bourlat SJ*, Nakano H*, Åkerman M, Telford MJ, Thorndyke MC, & Obst M. (2008) Feeding ecology of Xenoturbella bocki (phylum Xenoturbellida) revealed by genetic barcoding. Molecular Ecology Resources 8:18-22
*: Equal contribution

Fritzsch G., Bohme M. U., Thorndyke M., Nakano H., Israelsson O., Stach T., Schlegel M., Hankeln T. & Stadler P. F. (2008) PCR Survey of Xenoturbella bocki Hox Genes. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B 310B, 278-284.

Nakano H, Nakajima Y & Amemiya S. (2009) Nervous system development of two crinoid species, the sea lily Metacrinus rotundus and the feather star Oxycomanthus japonicus. Development, Genes, and Evolution 219: 565-576

Kjeldsen KU, Obst M, Nakano H, Funch P & Schramm A. (2010) Two Types of Endosymbiotic Bacteria in the Enigmatic Marine Worm Xenoturbella bocki. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 76: 2657-2662

Peer-reviewed conference proceedings

Nakano H, Hibino T, Hara Y, Oji T, & Amemiya S. (2004) Development of the sea lily Metacrinus rotundus: Comparisons with feather stars. Proceedings of the 11th International Echinoderm Conference, 41-44

Popular-scientific articles
Kohtsuka H, Sato A, & Nakano H. (2004) An observation of the development and the growth of the seafeather, Dorometra parvicirra. (In Japanese) Umiushi-tsushin 42: 5-6

Presentations

Oral
2003.1
Development of the staked crinoid, Metacrinus rotundus (Echinodermata: Crinoidea).  Hiroaki Nakano, Taku Hibino, Tatsuo Oji, Yuko Hara, and Shonan Amemiya.  The 152nd Meeting of the Palaeontological Society of Japan.  Yokohama, Japan (invited speaker)

2003.10
Development of the sea lily Metacrinus rotundus: Comparisons with feather stars.  Hiroaki Nakano, Taku Hibino, Yuko Hara, Tatsuo Oji, and Shonan Amemiya.  11th International Echinoderm Conference.  Munich, Germany

2008.8
Developmental studies of Xenoturbella.  Hiroaki Nakano, Sarah J. Bourlat, Matthias Obst, Ako Nakano, Max J. Telford, and Michael C. Thorndyke.  1st International Congress on Invertebrate Morphology. Copenhagen, Denmark

2008.10
Developmental studies of Xenoturbella.  Hiroaki Nakano, Sarah J. Bourlat, Matthias Obst, Ako Nakano, Max J. Telford, and Michael C. Thorndyke.  ICREA Conference on the Origin and Early Evolution of Metazoans. Barcelona, Spain

2009.9

Evolution and Development of the Enigmatic Animal Xenoturbella bocki. Hiroaki Nakano. The 80th Annual Meeting of the Zoological Society of Japan. Shizuoka, Japan (invited speaker)

Poster
2002.5
Development of the staked crinoid, Metacrinus rotundus.  Hiroaki Nakano, Taku Hibino, Yuko Hara, Tatsuo Oji, and Shonan Amemiya.  Developmental Biology of the Sea Urchins XIV.  MBL, Woods Hole, MA, USA

2006.7
Studies on the development and evolution of Xenoturbella.  Hiroaki Nakano, Sarah Bourlat, Matthias Obst, Thomas Stach, Samuel Dupont, Maximilian Telford, and Michael Thorndyke.  Human Frontier Science Program Sixth Awardees Annual Meeting. Paris, France

2008.7
Phylogenetic and Developmental Studies of Xenoturbella.  Hiroaki Nakano, Sarah J. Bourlat, Matthias Obst, Ako Nakano, Andreas Heyland, Leonid L. Moroz, Max J. Telford, and Michael C. Thorndyke.  Human Frontier Science Program Eighth Awardees Annual Meeting. Berlin, Germany

Others (Meetings where my results were presented, but I could not attend)
2001.10
Development of the stalked crinoid, Metacrinus rotundus.  Hiroaki Nakano, Yuko Hara, Tatsuo Oji, Shonan Amemiya, and Taku Hibino.  The 72nd Annual Meeting of the Zoological Society of Japan.  Fukuoka, Japan

2002.10
Morphological changes accompanying stalk loss in the staked crinoid, Metacrinus rotundus (Echinodermata: Crinoidea).  Hiroaki Nakano, Taku Hibino, Yuko Hara, Tatsuo Oji, and Shonan Amemiya.  The 73rd Annual Meeting of the Zoological Society of Japan.  Kanazawa, Japan

2003.11
Development and Growth of a Feather Star Decametra tigrina (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) from the Notojima Island, Japan Sea.  Hisanori Kohtsuka and Hiroaki Nakano.  Joint Meeting of The Plankton Society of Japan and The Benthos Society of Japan.  Tokyo, Japan

2004.9.
Development of the Nervous System of the Stalked Crinoid Echinoderm, Metacrinus rotundus.  Hiroaki Nakano, Yoko Nakajima, and Shonan Amemiya.  The 75th Annual Meeting of the Zoological Society of Japan.  Kobe, Japan

Education

1996.4-2000.3
Undergraduate studies at Department of Science, University of Tokyo. 
Thesis: RNA interference (RNAi) for the organizer-specific gene Xlim-1 in Xenopus embryos
2000.4-2002.3
Master’s student at Department of Integrated Sciences, University of Tokyo
Thesis: Development and Regeneration of the Sea Lily Metacrinus rotundus
2002.4-2004.3
PhD student at Department of Integrated Sciences, University of Tokyo
Thesis: Studies on the Evolution of the Echinoderm Body Plan Using the Stalked Crinoid Metacrinus rotundus  (Doctor in Life Sciences)

Research

2003.4-2004.3
JSPS Doctoral Research Fellow at Department of Integrated Sciences, University of Tokyo.  Project: Studies on the Evolution of the Echinoderm Body Plan Using the Stalked Crinoid Metacrinus rotundus
2004.4-2005.3
JSPS Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Department of Biology, Keio University.  Project: Development and Evolution of the Nervous System in Echinoderms
2004.6-2005.3
JSPS Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Kristineberg Marine Research Station.  Project: Studies on the Life History of Xenoturbella
2005.4-2008.3
HFSP Long-Term Fellow at Kristineberg Marine Research Station.  Project: Studies on the Life History and Nervous System of Xenoturbella
2008.4-current
Forskarassistent at Department of Marine Ecology- Kristineberg, University of Gothenburg.  Project: Studies on the Body Plan of the Deuterostome Xenoturbella (phylum Xenoturbellida) for the Understanding of Early Deuterostome Evolution

Teaching

2000.9-2001.3
Teaching assistant at the Department of Science, University of Tokyo
2002.9-2003.3
Research assistant at the Department of Integrated Sciences, University of Tokyo

Awards

2002.3
IB Award (Best Master’s Thesis of the Year), Department of Integrated Biosciences, University of Tokyo
2003.3
President’s Award from the President of University of Tokyo
2003.10
Best Oral Presentation Award in the 11th International Echinoderm Conference, Munich, Germany