Biography

My research is focused on the mechanisms of Developmental plasticity that is essential for any living organism to successfully survive, develop, and/or regenerate under the various environment. Specifically, we study the functional contributions of germ line molecules in the somatic lineages during the process of developmental reprogramming and regeneration. We utilize highly regulative sea urchin embryos to understand how the embryo flexibly but tightly regulate its developmental program even when the normal developmental pathway is altered.

Selected Publications

• Yajima, M., Suglia, E., Gustafson, E.A. and Wessel, G.M. (2013) Meiotic gene expression initiates during larval development in the sea urchin. Dev. Dyn. 242(2):155-163.(2013)
• Oulhen , N., Yoshida, T., Yajima, M., Song, J., Sakuma, T., Sakamoto, N., Yamamoto, T., Wessel, G.M. (2013) The 3'UTR of Nanos2 directs enrichment in the germ cell lineage of the sea urchin. Dev. Biol. 377(1): 275-283.(2013)
• Yajima, M. and Wessel, G.M. (2012) Autonomy in Specification of Primordial Germ Cells and their Passive Translocation in the Sea Urchin. Development 139: 3786-3794.(2012)
• Yajima, M., Fairbrother, W. and Wessel, G.M. (2012) ISWI contributes to ArsI insulator function in development of the sea urchin. Development 139: 3613-3622.(2012)
• Yajima M. and Wessel G.M. (2011c) The multiple hats of Vasa: Its functions in the germline and in cell cycle progression. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 78: 861– 867.(2011)
• Yajima, M. and Wessel, G.M. (2011a) Small micromeres contribute to the germline in the sea urchin. Development 138: 237-243.(2011)
• Yajima, M. and Wessel, G.M. (2011b) The DEAD-box RNA helicase Vasa functions in embryonic mitotic progression in the sea urchin. Development 138: 2217-2222.(2011)
• Takagi, H., Inai, Y., Watanabe, S., Tatemoto, S., Yajima, M., Akasaka, K., Yamamoto, T. and Sakamoto, N. (2011). Nucleosome exclusion from the interspecies conserved central AT-rich region of the Ars insulator. J. Biochem. 151: 75-87.(2011)
• Juliano, C.E., Yajima, M. and Wessel, G.M. (2010) Nanos functions to maintain the fate of the small micromere lineage in the sea urchin embryo. Dev. Biol. 337:220–232.(2010)
• Sasakura, Y., Yaguchi, J., Yaguchi, S. and Yajima, M. (2010) Excision and Transposition Activity of Tc1/mariner Superfamily Transposons in Sea Urchin Embryos. Zool. Sci. 27:256-262.(2010)
• Yajima M., Umeda, R., Fuchikami, T., Kataoka, M., Sakamoto, N., Yamamoto, T. and Akasaka, K. (2010) Implication of HpEts in gene regulatory networks responsible for specification of sea urchin skeletogenic primary mesenchyme cells. Zool. Sci. 27:638-646.(2010)
• Gustafson, E.A., Yajima, M., Juliano, C.E. and Wessel, G.M. (2010) Post-translational regulation by gustavus contributes to selective Vasa protein accumulation in multipotent cells during embryogenesis. Dev. Biol. 349: 440-450.(2010)
• Yajima, M. (2007) Evolutionary modification of mesenchyme cells in sand dollars in the transition from indirect to direct development. Evol. Dev. 9:258–267.(2007)
• Yajima, M. (2007) A switch in the cellular basis of skeletogenesis in late-stage sea urchin larvae. Dev. Biol. 307:272-281.(2007)
• Yajima, M., Kiyomoto, M. and Akasaka, K. (2007) Ars insulator protects transgenes from long-term silencing in sea urchin larvae. Dev. Genes Evol. 217:331–336.(2007)
• Yajima, M. and Kiyomoto, M. (2006) Study of larval and adult skeletogenic cells in the developing sea urchin larvae. Biol. Bull. 211:183–192.(2006)