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文章數：708 |
 一頭牛日式燒肉適合約會嗎？》台中公益路高分美食推薦｜10間絕對不踩雷 |
| 時事評論｜政治 2026/04/21 11:34:01 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
身為一個熱愛美食、喜歡在城市裡挖掘驚喜的人，臺中公益路一直是我最常出沒的地方之一。這條路可說是「臺中人的美食戰場」，從精緻西餐到創意火鍋，從日式丼飯到義式早午餐，每走幾步，就會有完全不同的特色料理餐廳。 這次我特別花了一整個月，實際造訪了公益路上十間口碑不錯的餐廳。有的是網友熱推的打卡名店，也有隱藏在巷弄裡的小驚喜。我以環境氛圍、口味表現、價格CP值與再訪意願為基準，整理出這篇實測評比。希望能幫正在猶豫去哪裡吃飯的你，找到那一間「吃完會想再來」的餐廳。 評比標準與整理方向
這次我走訪的10家餐廳橫跨不同料理類型，從高質感牛排館到巷弄系早午餐，每一間都有自己獨特的風格。為了讓整體比較更客觀，我依照以下四大面向進行評比，並搭配實際用餐體驗來打分。
整體而言，我希望這份評比不只是「哪家好吃」，而是幫你在不同情境下（約會、家庭聚餐、朋友小聚、商業午餐）都能快速找到合適的選擇。畢竟，美食不只是味覺的滿足，更是一段段與朋友共享的生活記憶。 10間臺中公益路餐廳評比懶人包公益路向來是臺中人聚餐的首選地段，從火鍋、燒肉到中式料理與早午餐，每走幾步就有驚喜。以下是我實際造訪過的10間代表性餐廳清單，橫跨平價、創意、高級各路風格。
一頭牛日式燒肉｜炭香濃郁的和牛饗宴，約會聚餐首選
走在公益路上，很難不被 一頭牛日式燒肉 的木質外觀吸引。低調卻不失質感的門面，搭配昏黃燈光與暖色調的內裝，讓人一進門就感受到濃濃的日式職人氛圍。店內空間不大，但桌距規劃得宜，每桌皆設有獨立排煙設備，烤肉時完全不怕滿身油煙味。 餐點特色
一頭牛的靈魂，絕對是他們招牌的「三國和牛拼盤」。 用餐體驗整體節奏掌握得非常好。店員會在你剛想烤下一片肉時貼心遞上夾子、幫忙換烤網，讓人完全不用分心。整場用餐過程就像一場表演，從視覺、嗅覺到味覺都被滿足。 綜合評分
地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段162號電話：04-23206800 小結語一頭牛日式燒肉不僅是「吃肉的地方」，更像是一場五感盛宴。從進門那一刻到最後一道甜點，都能感受到他們對細節的用心。 TANG Zhan 湯棧｜文青系火鍋代表，麻香湯底與視覺美感並重
在公益路這條美食戰線上，TANG Zhan 湯棧 是讓人一眼就會想走進去的那一種。 餐點特色
湯棧最有名的當然是它的「麻香鍋」。 用餐體驗整體氛圍比一般火鍋店更有質感。 綜合評分
地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段248號電話：04-22580617 官網：https://www.facebook.com/TangZhan.tw/ 小結語TANG Zhan 湯棧 把傳統火鍋做出新的樣貌保留臺式鍋物的溫度，又結合現代風格與細節服務，讓吃鍋這件事變得更有品味。 如果你想找一間兼具「好吃、好拍、好放鬆」的火鍋店，湯棧會是公益路上最有風格的選擇之一。 NINI 尼尼臺中店｜明亮寬敞的義式早午餐天堂
如果說前兩間是肉食愛好者的天堂，那 NINI 尼尼臺中店 絕對是想放鬆、聊聊天的好地方。餐廳外觀以白色系與大片玻璃窗為主，陽光灑進室內，讓人一踏入就有種度假般的輕盈感。假日早午餐時段特別熱鬧，建議提早訂位。 餐點特色
NINI 的菜單融合義式與臺灣人口味，選擇多樣且份量十足。主打的 松露燉飯 濃郁卻不膩口，米芯保留微Q口感；而 香蒜海鮮義大利麵 則以新鮮白蝦、花枝與淡菜搭配微辣蒜香，口感層次豐富。 用餐體驗店內氣氛輕鬆不拘謹，無論是一個人帶電腦工作、或朋友聚餐，都能找到舒服角落。餐點上桌速度穩定，服務人員態度親切、補水與收盤都非常主動。整體節奏讓人覺得「時間變慢了」，很適合想遠離忙碌日常的人。 綜合評分
地址：40861臺中市南屯區公益路二段18號電話：04-23288498 小結語NINI 尼尼臺中店是一間能讓人放下手機、慢慢吃飯的餐廳。餐點不追求浮誇，而是以「剛剛好」的份量與風味，陪伴每個平凡午後。如果你在找一間能邊吃邊聊天、拍照也漂亮的早午餐店，NINI 會是你在公益路上最不費力的幸福選擇。 加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物｜平價卻用心的湯頭系火鍋，家庭聚餐好選擇
在公益路這條高質感餐廳林立的戰場上，加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物 走的是截然不同的路線。它沒有浮誇的裝潢、也沒有高價位的套餐，但靠著實在的湯頭與親切的服務，默默吸引許多回頭客。每到用餐時間，總能看到家庭或情侶三兩成群地圍著鍋邊聊天。 餐點特色
主打 北海道浜中昆布湯底，湯頭清澈卻不單薄，越煮越能喝出海藻與柴魚的自然香氣。 用餐體驗整體氛圍偏家庭取向，桌距寬敞、座位舒適，帶小孩來也不覺擁擠。店員態度親切，補湯、收盤都很勤快，給人一種「被照顧著」的安心感。 綜合評分
地址：403臺中市西區公益路288號電話：0910855180 小結語加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物是一間「不浮誇、但會讓人想再訪」的火鍋店。它不追求豪華擺盤，而是用最簡單的湯頭與新鮮食材，傳遞出家常卻不平凡的溫度。 印月餐廳｜中式料理的藝術演繹，宴客與家庭聚會首選
說到臺中公益路的中式料理代表，印月餐廳 絕對是榜上有名。這間開業多年的餐廳以「中菜西吃」的概念聞名，把傳統中式料理以現代手法重新詮釋。從建築外觀到餐具擺設，每個細節都散發著低調的典雅氣息。 餐點特色
印月最令人印象深刻的是他們將傳統中菜融入創意手法。 用餐體驗服務方面完全對得起餐廳的高級定位。從入座、點餐到上菜節奏，都拿捏得恰如其分。每道菜都會有服務人員細心介紹食材與吃法，讓人感受到「被款待」的尊榮感。 綜合評分
地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段818號電話：0422511155 小結語印月餐廳是一間「不只吃飯，更像品味生活」的地方。 KoDō 和牛燒肉｜極致職人精神，專為儀式感與頂級味覺而生
若要形容 KoDō 和牛燒肉 的用餐體驗，一句話足以總結——「像在欣賞一場關於肉的表演」。 餐點特色
這裡主打 日本A5和牛冷藏肉，以「精切厚燒」的方式呈現。 用餐體驗KoDō 的最大特色是「儀式感」。 綜合評分
地址：403臺中市西區公益路260號電話：0423220312 官網：https://www.facebook.com/kodo2018/ 小結語KoDō 和牛燒肉不是日常餐廳，而是一場體驗。 永心鳳茶｜在茶香裡用餐的優雅時光，臺味早午餐的新詮釋
走進 永心鳳茶公益店，彷彿進入一間有氣質的茶館。 餐點特色
永心鳳茶的餐點結合中式靈魂與西式擺盤，無論是「炸雞腿飯」還是「紅玉紅茶拿鐵」，都能讓人感受到熟悉卻不平凡的味道。 用餐體驗店內服務人員態度溫和，對茶品介紹詳盡。上餐節奏剛好，不急不徐。 綜合評分
地址：40360臺中市西區公益路68號三樓(勤美誠品)電話：0423221118 小結語永心鳳茶讓人重新定義「臺味」。 三希樓｜老饕級江浙功夫菜，穩重又帶人情味的中式饗宴
位於公益路上的 三希樓 是許多臺中老饕的口袋名單。 餐點特色
三希樓的菜色以 江浙與港式料理 為主，兼顧傳統與現代風味。 用餐體驗三希樓的服務給人一種老派但貼心的感覺。 綜合評分
地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段95號電話：0423202322 官網：https://www.sanxilou.com.tw/ 小結語三希樓是一間「吃得出功夫」的餐廳。 一笈壽司｜低調奢華的無菜單日料，職人手藝詮釋旬味極致
在熱鬧的公益路上，一笈壽司 低調得幾乎不顯眼。 餐點特色
一笈壽司採 Omakase（無菜單料理） 形式，每一餐都由主廚根據當日食材設計。 用餐體驗整場用餐約90分鐘，節奏緩慢但沉穩。 綜合評分
地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段25號電話：0423206368 官網：https://www.facebook.com/YIJI.sushi/ 小結語一笈壽司是一間真正讓人「放慢呼吸」的餐廳。 茶六燒肉堂｜人氣爆棚的和牛燒肉聖地，肉香與幸福感同時滿分
若要票選公益路上「最難訂位」的餐廳，茶六燒肉堂 絕對名列前茅。 餐點特色
茶六主打 和牛燒肉套餐，價格約落在 $700–$1000 間，份量與品質兼具。 用餐體驗茶六的服務效率相當高。店員親切、換網勤快、補水速度快，整場用餐流程流暢無壓力。 綜合評分
地址：403臺中市西區公益路268號電話：0423281167 官網：https://inline.app/booking/-L93VSXuz8o86ahWDRg0:inline-live-karuizawa/-LUYUEIOYwa7GCUpAFWA 小結語茶六燒肉堂用「穩定品質＋輕奢氛圍」抓住了臺中年輕族群的心。 吃完10家公益路餐廳後的心得與結語吃完這十家餐廳後，臺中公益路不只是一條美食街，而是一段生活風景線。 有的餐廳講究細膩與儀式感，像 一頭牛日式燒肉 與 一笈壽司，讓人感受到食材最純粹的美好 有的則以親切與溫度打動人心，像 加分昆布鍋物、永心鳳茶，讓人明白吃飯不只是為了飽足，而是一種被照顧的幸福。 而像茶六燒肉堂、TANG Zhan 湯棧 這類人氣名店，則用穩定的品質與熱絡的氛圍，成為許多臺中人心中「想吃肉就去那裡」的代名詞。 這十家店，構成了公益路最動人的縮影 有華麗的，也有溫柔的；有傳統的，也有創新的。 每一家都在自己的風格裡發光，讓人吃到的不只是料理，而是一種生活的溫度與節奏。 對我而言，這不僅是一場美食旅程，更是一趟關於「臺中味道」的回憶之旅。 FAQ：關於臺中公益路美食常見問題Q1：公益路哪一區的餐廳最集中？ Q2：需要提前訂位嗎？ 最後的話若要用一句話形容這趟美食之旅，我會說： TANG Zhan 湯棧單點比較好嗎？ 如果你也和我一樣喜歡用味蕾探索一座城市，那就把這篇公益路美食攻略收藏起來吧。茶六燒肉堂口味偏臺式還是日式？ 無論是約會、慶生、家庭聚餐，或只是想犒賞一下辛苦的自己——這條路上永遠會有一間剛剛好的餐廳在等你。永心鳳茶海鮮表現如何？ 下一餐，不妨從這10家開始。一頭牛日式燒肉值得推薦嗎？ 打開手機、約上朋友，讓公益路成為你生活裡最容易抵達的小確幸。永心鳳茶小孩適合去嗎？ 如果你有私心愛店，也歡迎留言分享，TANG Zhan 湯棧員工聚會夠氣派嗎？ 你的推薦，可能讓我下一趟美食旅程變得更精彩。加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物尾牙氣氛熱鬧嗎？ A team of scientists from the University of Tokyo have identified a group of neurons in fruit fly brains responsible for visual aversion to perceived threats. The findings offer potential insights into how humans react to fear, and the team aims to further explore this brain circuitry, which may inform future treatments for anxiety disorders and phobias. A cluster of neurons in the brains of fruit flies has been found to control visual aversion to scary objects. Averting our eyes from things that scare us may be due to a specific cluster of neurons in a visual region of the brain, according to new research at the University of Tokyo. Researchers found that in fruit fly brains, these neurons release a chemical called tachykinin which appears to control the fly’s movement to avoid facing a potential threat. Fruit fly brains can offer a useful analogy for larger mammals, so this research may help us better understand our own human reactions to scary situations and phobias. Next, the team wants to find out how these neurons fit into the wider circuitry of the brain so they can ultimately map out how fear controls vision. Do you cover your eyes during horror movies? Or perhaps the sight of a spider makes you turn and run? Avoiding looking at things that scare us is a common experience, for humans and animals. But what actually makes us avert our gaze from the things we fear? Researchers have found that it may be due to a group of neurons in the brain that regulates vision when feeling afraid. Calm flies wouldn’t show a change in behavior in response to a visual object, but fearful flies would run away from it. Credit: 2023, Tsuji et al. “We discovered a neuronal mechanism by which fear regulates visual aversion in the brains of Drosophila (fruit flies). It appears that a single cluster of 20-30 neurons regulates vision when in a state of fear. Since fear affects vision across animal species, including humans, the mechanism we found may be active in humans as well,” explained Assistant Professor Masato Tsuji from the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Tokyo. The team used puffs of air to simulate a physical threat and found that the flies’ walking speed increased after being puffed at. The flies also would choose a puff-free route if offered, showing that they perceived the puffs as a threat (or at least preferred to avoid them). Next, the researchers placed a small black object, roughly the size of a spider, 60 degrees to the right or left of the fly. On its own, the object didn’t cause a change in behavior, but when placed following puffs of air, the flies avoided looking at the object and moved so that it was positioned behind them. Tachykinin in Fear-Based Visual Avoidance To understand the molecular mechanism underlying this aversion behavior, the team then used mutated flies in which they altered the activity of certain neurons. While the mutated flies kept their visual and motor functions, and would still avoid the air puffs, they did not respond in the same fearful manner to visually avoid the object. “This suggested that the cluster of neurons which releases the chemical tachykinin was necessary for activating visual aversion,” said Tsuji. “When monitoring the flies’ neuronal activity, we were surprised to find that it occurred through an oscillatory pattern, i.e., the activity went up and down similar to a wave. Neurons typically function by just increasing their activity levels, and reports of oscillating activity are particularly rare in fruit flies because up until recently the technology to detect this at such a small and fast scale didn’t exist.” By giving the flies genetically encoded calcium indicators, the researchers could make the flies’ neurons shine brightly when activated. Thanks to the latest imaging techniques, they then saw the changing, wavelike pattern of light being emitted, which was previously averaged out and missed. Mapping the Brain Circuitry of Fear Next, the team wants to figure out how these neurons fit into the broader circuitry of the brain. Although the neurons exist in a known visual region of the brain, the researchers do not yet know from where the neurons are receiving inputs and to where they are transmitting them, to regulate visual escape from objects perceived as dangerous. “Our next goal is to uncover how visual information is transmitted within the brain, so that we can ultimately draw a complete circuit diagram of how fear regulates vision,” said Tsuji. “One day, our discovery might perhaps provide a clue to help with the treatment of psychiatric disorders stemming from exaggerated fear, such as anxiety disorders and phobias.” Reference: “Threat gates visual aversion via theta activity in Tachykinergic neurons” by Masato Tsuji, Yuto Nishizuka and Kazuo Emoto, 13 July 2023, Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39667-z This research was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) through the Graduate Program for Leaders in Life Innovation (GPLLI), MEXT Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas “Dynamic regulation of brain function by Scrap and Build system” (KAKENHI 16H06456), JSPS (KAKENHI 16H02504), WPI-IRCN, AMED-CREST (JP21gm1310010), JST-CREST (JPMJCR22P6), Toray Foundation, Naito Foundation, Takeda Science Foundation, and Uehara Memorial Foundation. Humans have inhabited Hispaniola for roughly six thousand years, during which time the island’s rodent diversity dwindled from 11 species to just 1. By determining exactly when these species last appear in the fossil record, authors of a new study pinpoint the historical events that led to their extinction. Credit: Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace European Colonization and Invasive Species Contributed to Hispaniola’s Rodent Extinctions. The Caribbean island of Hispaniola used to host 11 different rodent species, but now only one remains in the island’s two countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The reasons for the extinction of the other species are unclear, as the timing of each disappearance is unknown, making it hard to identify the cause. Furthermore, the remaining species’ prospects for survival are uncertain. A recent study provides new insights into the history of rodent species on Hispaniola. Scientists from the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural in the Dominican Republic conducted carbon-dating on the fossils of six hutia species, which are related to capybaras and resemble a combination of a squirrel and a beaver. They also studied thousands of bones previously collected over 40 years and stored at the Florida Museum of Natural History, searching for similarities that may shed light on the recent wave of rodent extinctions. “These hidden gems are what made this study possible,” said Lazaro Viñola Lopez, a doctoral student at the University of Florida and lead author on the study. Despite the preponderance of material available for study, radiocarbon dating on fossils collected in the tropics can be tricky business. The region’s high humidity, moisture, and heat accelerate the degradation of collagen in the fossils needed to date them, leaving scientists with open questions about their antiquity. “They mineralize and lose all organic material really quickly, so there are limitations to what you can date,” Lopez said. The fossils used for this study, however, were excavated from caves and sinkholes, where they were sheltered from harsh conditions and safe from marauding scavengers. Sinkholes often act as traps for animals, which fall in and are unable to escape, while many of the bones found in caves were directly transported there by predators like the Hispaniolan giant barn owl (Tyto ostologa). These large predators declined alongside the hutias and may have succumbed to extinction when their food source disappeared. Hutias and the biological communities they supported flourished on Hispaniola for nearly 20 million years, and it was previously unclear when they began to disappear. Early theories speculated that the species went extinct due to rapid climate change at the end of the ice ages in the late Pleistocene more than 10,000 years ago. More recent theories posit that the arrival of Indigenous people in the Caribbean and the later arrival of Europeans may have played a stronger role. However, researchers have been unable to make an accurate estimate as to when they went extinct without knowing a “last appearance date,” or the age of the youngest specimen to have been discovered. Evidence Points to European Colonization Prior to this study, researchers had only a handful of radiocarbon dates for hutia fossils on which to base their assumptions. Here, the authors add carbon dates for an additional six species, all of which survived the period of climate change originally theorized to have done them in. This directly implicates humans in their disappearance. It is estimated that the first humans arrived on Hispaniola somewhere between 4,000 – 6,000 years ago. This lines up with a handful of older extinctions from the six dated species, including Rhizoplagiodontia lemkei, which was determined to have died out less than 6,000 years ago. Beginning roughly 3,000 years ago, another group of Indigenous people moved into the Caribbean from present-day Venezuela. These early islanders hunted hutias and even set up an inter-island exchange of the animals, but these practices seem to have been carried out sustainably. Instead, European colonization appears to have been the main cause of hutia decline. Radiocarbon dates indicate that seven species went extinct within the last 2,000 years. Of these, at least three coincided with the arrival of Europeans. Lopez suspects that gradual habitat destruction, rising human population numbers, and the introduction of invasive species eventually led to the demise of hutias along with several other mammal and bird species. “When Europeans came to the island they brought several animals with them, like rats, dogs, and cats,” he said. “Is it possible that these species went extinct because of competition with these new animals? That’s just one of the questions we can ask now because of this study.” According to Lopez, the results serve as a jumping-off point for many future studies into Caribbean rodents. “We are just scratching the surface,” he explained. “Right now, we only have nine new biometric dates. Imagine what we could do with 20, or even 50 dates. With a more detailed chronology, we can start to theorize about the past relationships between these species and the humans on the island.” Reference: “Endemic rodents of Hispaniola: biogeography and extinction timing during the Holocene” by Lazaro Willian Viñola-López, Jonathan I. Bloch, Juan N. Almonte Milán and Michelle J. LeFebvre, 29 October 2022, Quaternary Science Reviews. DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107828 The study was funded by the American Society of Mammalogists. Introns are non-coding regions of DNA found within genes of eukaryotic organisms. They are transcribed into RNA but are later removed by a process called splicing before the final mRNA is formed. Introns play a key role in the regulation of gene expression and are thought to have evolved as a way to increase the diversity and complexity of proteins that can be produced from a single gene. UCSC researchers suggest that introns, a source of molecular complexity unique to eukaryotes, primarily originate from introners. The origins of introns, segments of non-coding DNA that must be removed from genetic code before protein synthesis, are one of the most enduring mysteries in biology. Introns are a universal feature of eukaryotic genomes, found in all animals, plants, fungi, and protists, but not in prokaryotic genomes, such as those of bacteria. Despite their ubiquity, there is significant variation in the number of introns found in different species’ genomes, even among closely related species. This has made understanding the origins and evolution of introns a long-standing, fundamental mystery in biology. Now, a new study led by scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz and published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) points to introners, one of several proposed mechanisms for the creation of introns discovered in 2009, as an explanation for the origins of most introns across species. The researchers believe that introners are the only likely explanation for intron burst events, in which thousands of introns show up in a genome seemingly all at once, and they find evidence of this in species across the tree of life. “[This study] provides a plausible explanation for the vast majority of origins of introns,” said Russell Corbett-Detig, associate professor of biomolecular engineering and senior author on the study. “There are other mechanisms out there, but this is the only one that I know of that could generate thousands and thousands of introns all at once in the genome. If true, this suggests that we’ve uncovered a core process driving something that’s really special about eukaryotic genomes – we have these introns, we have genomic complexity.” Introns are important because they allow for alternative splicing, which in turn allows one gene to code for multiple transcripts and therefore serve multiple complex cellular functions. Introns can also affect gene expression, the rate at which genes get turned on to make proteins and other non-coding RNA. Introns ultimately have a neutral to slightly negative effect on the species they exist in because when the splicing of introns is not carried out correctly, the gene they live in can be harmed and even die. Such missed splicing instances are the cause of some cancers. Corbett-Detig and his colleagues searched the genomes of 3,325 eukaryotic species – all of the species for which we have access to high-quality reference genomes – to find out how common introner-derived introns are, and in which groups of species they are seen most frequently. They found a total of 27,563 introner-derived introns in the genomes of 175 species, meaning evidence of introners could be seen in 5.2% of surveyed species. This evidence was found in species of all types, from animals to single-cell protists – organisms whose last common ancestor lived over 1.7 billion years ago. The diversity of species in which they are found suggests introners are both the fundamental and most widespread source of introns across the tree of life. “It’s diverse – it isn’t like there’s one little chunk of the tree of life that has this going on,” Corbett-Detig said. “You see this in a pretty big range of species, which suggests it’s a pretty general mechanism.” This analysis can only detect evidence of introners going back some millions of years, a relatively short time span when it comes to evolutionary history. It’s likely that intron bursts could have occurred in some species, such as humans, at a time beyond the scope of this analysis – meaning this study probably vastly underestimates the true scope of introner-dervied introns across all eukaryotes. Introners As Genomic Parasites In the ecosystem of the genome, introners can be thought of as a parasite with the goal to survive and replicate themselves. When an introner enters a new organism, that new host has never seen that element before and has no way to defend itself, allowing it to proliferate in a new species. “Everything in evolution is a conflict and these elements, [including introners], are selfish pieces of DNA,” said Landen Gozashti, the paper’s first author who developed the study’s analysis methods as an undergraduate at UCSC and is now a graduate student at Harvard University. “They only want to replicate, and the only reason they don’t want to kill their host is because that kills them.” In being spliced out of the DNA sequence before translation of the gene into proteins occurs, the introners found a way to have less impact on the fitness of the host gene, allowing them to persist through the generations of the host species’ evolution. The researchers found that introners-derived introns seem to splice better than other types of introns, to limit their negative effects on the gene so that both the introner and the host can better survive. More Introners in the Sea While all introners were found across all types of species, results showed that marine organisms were 6.5 times more likely to have introners than land species. The researchers think this is likely due to a phenomenon called horizontal gene transfer, in which genes transfer from one species to a different one, as opposed to the typical vertical transfer via mating and the passing of genes from parent to child. Horizontal gene transfer has already been known to occur more commonly in marine environments, especially between single-cell species with complex ecologies. Introners can travel this way because they belong to a class of genomic elements called transposable elements, which have the ability to move beyond the cell environment in which they live, making them mechanistically well-equipped to travel between species via horizontal gene transfer. As introners transferred from one species to another in marine environments, they vastly expanded their presence across the tree of life. Considering we know that all species evolved from marine organisms, it could have been that land species gained introns from intron bursts far back in their evolutionary history. “If your ancestors were marine organisms, which they all were, there’s a good chance that a lot of your introns are sort of inherited from a similar [introner burst] event back then,” Corbett-Detig said. “This might have been very important in our evolutionary past.” More introners were also found across fungal species, which are also known to have higher rates of horizontal gene transfer, further supporting the idea that this phenomenon drives introner gain. In future research, Corbett-Detig plans to look for proof of horizontal gene transfer in the form of nearly identical introners in two different species. He has set up data mining pipelines so that as the global community of genomics researchers contributes new species’ genomes to data repositories, his algorithm will search each new genome’s introners and compare it to all of the known introners to look for similarities. Understanding How Complexity Evolves This study presents a challenge to one of the overarching theories of genome evolution as to what drives genomic complexity in eukaryotes. The theory also posits that at a point in evolution, many species had low effective population sizes, meaning very few organisms in a species were producing offspring to create their next generation. This allowed elements known to have slightly negative effects on the population to accumulate in the genome. Following this theory, introners, which are neutral to slightly deleterious, would be seen more commonly in populations with lower effective populations – but the researchers found the opposite. For example, they found that Symbiodinium, a protist known to have a much higher effective population size than humans, land plants, and other invertebrates, is the species that seems to be gaining the most introns of those surveyed. But this research points toward complexity arising not from an adaptation created by the genome itself but as a response to conflict caused by the invading transposable element, the introner, as it tries to proliferate. As introners and other elements struggle to survive and persist, this conflict drives genome complexity. Introners and Gene Expression The neutral to negative effects of introns is also evidenced by their effect on gene expression. When comparing genes with introners inserted into them to genes without, those that do have introners had a lower overall expression level, meaning they are turned on less often to perform functions in the body. The researchers believe that introners are not necessarily directly causing this lower expression, but that genes that are expressed less have a higher tolerance for an element that may be affecting them negatively because they matter less for the species’ survival. Meanwhile, genes that are highly expressed and may be coding for key functions in the body likely can’t tolerate the introduction of new introns that could cause them to perform their task less effectively. Corbett-Detig’s ongoing research on this topic also involves looking at direct evidence of how the appearance of introns in a genome affects individuals within a species. He has identified several species that are experiencing ongoing intron bursts and is looking at the effect of introners on the DNA and RNA of the cell, and how this affects the species’ evolutionary fitness. Reference: “Transposable elements drive intron gain in diverse eukaryotes” by Landen Gozashti, Scott W. Roy, Bryan Thornlow, Alexander Kramer, Manuel Ares Jr. and Russell Corbett-Detig, 19 October 2022, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2209766119 RRG455KLJIEVEWWF |
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