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MBSJ Code of Ethics
Guidelines relating to presentation of research results
May 2023
Stimulated to the leaves, the sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica) folds its leaves one after another. To elucidate the mechanism, a transgenic M. pudica was produced so that the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration can be observed as fluorescence by GCaMP6f (Hagihara et al. (2022) Nat. Commun. 13: 6412, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34106-x). When a leaflet was wounded, the fluorescent signal caused by Ca2+ propagated through the veins to the tertiary pulvinus at the base of the leaflet, immediately followed by a movement of the pair of leaflets to fold inwards. And, Ca2+ signals were propagated to the adjacent tertiary pulvini sequentially, and the leaflets were also folded successively. At this time, electrical signals were transmitted simultaneously with the fluorescent signals. The authors also observed that the immotile M. pudica was more susceptible to feeding damage by insects, suggesting that the movement above protects the plant from feeding damage.
April 2023
Wnt2022, an international conference on Wnt research, was held on November 15 to 19, 2022, in Awaji Island (Hyogo Prefecture). This memorable gathering was the first Wnt meeting in Japan and Asia, finally held in person after being postponed for two years due to COVID-19. The cover of this issue features Himeji Castle (Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture) (*CG fiction) with an exceptional decoration showing the name of the meeting and the names of important components of Wnt signaling, to commemorate this occasion. The Meeting Report in this issue detailed the discussion at the conference and its connection to Himeji Castle (Kikuchi et al. (2023) Genes Cells, 28: 249-257, DOI: 10.1111/gtc.13014).
