Chikako Matsuba (Cim)
Contact information:
Chikako MATSUBA (Cim)
Dept. of Zoology, University of Florida
223 Bartram Hall, PO BOX 118525
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
32611-8525, US
E-mail:matsuba@ufl.edu
Post-doc
Profile
I am working on the common frog sex ratio variation study in EGRU since 2002. I finished my MSc study about molecular evolution of Amylase gene in Drosophila at Kyushu univ., Japan and have studied about gynogenesis in the silver crucian carp using molecular genetic technique in my PhD at Azabu univ., Japan. Now I am also researching about candidate genes’ polymorphisms in Scandinavian common frogs.
Research
- Amphibian sex determination and sex-ratio biases
- Maintenance of sexual/unsexual reproduction
- Local adaptation and gene polymorphism
Projects
Development of microsatellite marker for the common frog
The available genetic marker is very little in this species. I am developing microsatellite markers in this species to use for populations structure analysis, to find sex-linked markers and to construct a linkage map.
Polymorphisms of candidate genes in energy metabolism of the common frog
The trait concerned with energy metabolism, as freeze tolerance or efficient ATP (energy) transportation, is one of important subjects under selection in sub-arctic cold environment. R. temporaria is only one species that can inhabit in sub-arctic area in amphibians. To know how the genes linked with energy metabolism evolved in adaptation/colonization to sub-arctic environment, I am planning to isolate some of energy metabolic genes of common frogs from several populations, and investigate the sequence polymorphism and allele frequencies of those genes among populations in Scandinavia.
Primary sex-ratio variation in a common frog (Rana temporaria) population at sub-arctic.
Capture-recapture data collected from two common frog breeding sites in Kilpisjärvi (NW-Finland) have revealed an extremely female-biased sex ratio among adults in these ponds. In animals with chromosomal sex determination, sex ratios in birth are expected to be equal due to genetic constraints of Mendelian segregation of sex chromosomes. However, it is also known that the phenotypic sex in amphibians might be determined by temperature or other environmental factors during development. My main aim is to find out whether the sex-bias in Kilpisjärvi population results from a primary sex ratio bias, from a higher mortality among male frogs, or from their feminization by some environmental factors. To achieve this, I am isolating sex-specific genetic markers to allow sex-identification of juvenile common frogs. Once these markers have been isolated, I plan to use them to investigate primary sex-ratio variation within and among different common frog populations, as well as possible environmental sex-determination in this species.
Publications
Matsuba C., Palo J., Kuzmin S.L. and Merilä J. (2007) Evidence for multiple retroposition events and gene evolution in the ADP/ATP Translocase gene family in Ranid frogs. J. Heredity 98:300-310.
Cano J. M., Matsuba C., Mäkinen H. and Merilä J. (2006) The utility of QTL-linked markers to detect selective sweeps in natural populations - a case study of the Eda gene and a linked marker in threespine stickleback. Molecular Ecology 15: 4613-462.
Matsuba C. and Merilä, J. (2006). Genome size variation in the common frog Rana temporaria. Hereditas 143: 157-160.