Hisanori Kohtsuka

The paper establishes and maintains genetically controlled, closed ascidian colonies to improve experimental reproducibility in non-model organisms.

The paper investigates colony-level axial patterning in siphonophores using gene expression analysis, showing that developmental regulators like Hox and Wnt genes are expressed in specific regions of the colony stem.

This study examines the histological changes in gonads of female-to-male sex-changing fish, finding that gonads initially develop as ovaries and later transition into ovotestes through the emergence of male germ cells.