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」。
嚴選的和牛部位，共八個部位、十樣餐點，讓人能從牛頭一路品嘗到牛尾。
油花分布均勻、切片厚薄恰好，經過炭火烤炙後香氣四溢，焦香與油脂在口中交融，入口即化的滑順感令人難忘。
值得一提的是，一頭牛的菜單設計十分彈性
想要一次體驗完整套餐也可以，偏好客製口味則能自由單點組合，不受套餐限制，想吃什麼就點什麼。
而且每桌都能選擇「自行燒烤」或「專人代烤」服務，烤肉管家的火侯掌握與節奏讓整體體驗更輕鬆愉快。
除了主角和牛，旬味野炊飯 與 主廚冰淇淋 也是隱藏版亮點，前者粒粒分明、香氣撲鼻；後者以香草與焙茶為基底，隨季節更換口味，完美收尾。整體服務親切熱情，特別是壽星還能享有 生日畫盤驚喜，讓慶祝時刻更添儀式感。

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。
如果是第一次約會或慶祝特別節日，這裡的氛圍既不尷尬又不吵鬧，是營造氣氛的理想選擇。

綜合評分

地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段162號

電話：04-23206800

官網：https://lihi2.me/Amijw

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。
若要在公益路找一間能讓人「邊吃邊微笑」的燒肉店，一頭牛 絕對值得列入你的必訪清單。

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。
黑灰調的現代外觀、搭配微霧玻璃與招牌的「湯棧」燈字，呈現出一種低調的時尚感。
店內設計延續品牌主題，以「湯」為靈魂打造整體體驗，從裝潢到香氣，都有濃厚的溫潤氣息。

餐點特色

湯棧最有名的當然是它的「麻香鍋」。
湯底以雞骨與多種辛香料慢熬，香氣濃郁卻不嗆辣，入口後會在喉間留下柔和的花椒香。
「招牌麻油雞鍋」與「黃金牛奶鍋」也是人氣選項，特別是在冬天，溫潤的湯底配上滑嫩肉片，讓人每一口都覺得暖心。
他們的「滷肉飯」和「香蔥豆腐皮」更是許多老客人必點的靈魂配角，簡單卻有記憶點。

用餐體驗

整體氛圍比一般火鍋店更有質感。
桌距寬敞、燈光柔和，店員動作俐落又親切。即使客滿，也不會感覺吵雜或壓迫。
不論是一個人想靜靜吃鍋、或是朋友聚餐，湯棧都能給你剛剛好的距離與溫度。
值得一提的是，上菜速度快、湯底續湯毫不手軟，細節服務到位。

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

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。
此外，他們的薄餅披薩相當受歡迎，餅皮薄脆、餡料新鮮，是三五好友共享的好選擇。

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

官網：https://nini.com.tw/

小結語

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。
我這次點的是「牛奶昆布鍋」，入口時奶香與昆布香完美融合，搭配新鮮的牛五花肉片，滑順又不膩。
菜盤走健康取向，蔬菜比例高，連玉米、南瓜、豆皮都能吃出甜味；附餐的烏龍麵Q彈有嚼勁，吃完十分有飽足感。

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。
最難得的是，即使價位不高，食材新鮮度仍維持得很好，能感受到店家對品質的堅持。

綜合評分

地址：403臺中市西區公益路288號

電話：0910855180

官網：https://giafine100.com/

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。
如果你想在公益路找一間可以放心帶家人一起吃的鍋物店，這裡絕對會讓人感到「加分」不少。

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。
走進印月，挑高的空間、柔和的燈光與木質桌椅構成沉穩的氛圍。
不論是家庭聚餐、商務宴客，還是節日慶祝，都能找到恰到好處的格調。

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。
這次我品嚐的「松露雞湯」香氣濃郁、層次分明，一口下去既有中式的溫潤感，又帶出西式松露的奢華香氣。
「蒜香牛肋條」則是另一道招牌菜，外酥內嫩、油香十足，咬下去肉汁在口中散開，搭配特調醬汁非常過癮。
此外，他們的創意港點如「麻辣小籠包」與「金沙流沙包」也深受年輕客群喜愛，既保留經典又玩出新意。

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。
雖然價位偏中高，但在這樣的氛圍與品質下，物有所值。

綜合評分

地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段818號

電話：0422511155

官網：https://wein818.com/

小結語

印月餐廳是一間「不只吃飯，更像品味生活」的地方。
它成功地讓中式料理不再只是圓桌菜，而是能展現質感、講究細節的美食體驗。
若你在找一間能同時滿足味蕾與體面的餐廳，印月 絕對是公益路上的不敗經典。

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」。
隱身在公益路一隅，KoDō 的外觀低調典雅，店內以深色木質調與間接照明營造出沉穩氛圍。
從踏入店門那一刻開始，服務人員的態度、動線、聲音控制，全都精準到位，讓人彷彿走進日式劇場。

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。
我點的「壽喜燒風和牛套餐」是本日最驚艷的一道——服務人員現場以鐵鍋輕煎，再淋上特製壽喜燒醬汁，香氣瞬間瀰漫整桌。
肉片油花細緻、入口即化，搭配生蛋液後更添柔滑口感。
另一道「冷藏肋眼心」則保留了和牛的彈性與甜度，每一口都能感受到油脂與炭火交織出的層次。
即使是配角如「季節小菜」與「日式和風飯」也毫不馬虎，整體呈現出高級卻不造作的平衡。

用餐體驗

KoDō 的最大特色是「儀式感」。
每位店員的動作都有節奏，從擺盤、火候、換網到講解，都像排練過無數次的演出。
在這裡用餐，會自然地放慢速度，專注於每一口肉帶來的細膩變化。
特別推薦搭配店內的紅酒或日本威士忌，風味更加圓潤。

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。
從環境、服務到食材，每個細節都讓人感受到對「完美」的執著。
若你想在公益路找一間能讓人留下深刻印象、適合紀念日慶祝的餐廳，KoDō 絕對是值得收藏的一次「味覺儀式」。

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。
柔和的燈光灑在復古綠牆上，搭配大理石桌面與金色餐具，整體氛圍既典雅又帶有一絲文青氣息。
這裡不只是喝茶的地方，更像是把「臺灣味」以早午餐的形式重新演繹。

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。
炸雞腿外酥內嫩，搭配自製酸菜與溏心蛋，鹹香中帶著層次感。
「鳳茶甜點拼盤」則以茶為靈魂——伯爵茶蛋糕、烏龍茶奶酪、紅茶雪酥，每一口都有細緻的香氣變化。
最特別的是他們的茶飲，從臺灣高山紅茶到金萱冷泡茶，每一壺都現泡現倒，香氣清雅。
對我而言，這不只是一頓飯，更是一段放鬆的午後儀式。

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。
整體氛圍很「耐坐」，許多客人吃完正餐後仍會續點一壺茶聊天。
音樂輕柔、光線柔和，是那種可以靜靜待上兩小時的地方。

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

官網：https://linktr.ee/yonshin

小結語

永心鳳茶讓人重新定義「臺味」。
它不走傳統路線，而是把熟悉的元素以更細緻、更現代的方式呈現。
無論是姊妹下午茶、親子餐聚，或是想一個人沉澱片刻，永心鳳茶 都是一處能讓人慢下來、品味生活的好地方。

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。
它沒有浮誇的裝潢，卻有一種低調的自信。從大門進入，就能聞到淡淡的醬香與蒸氣味，那是正宗江浙菜的靈魂。
整體裝潢以深木色為主，搭配圓桌與包廂設計，非常適合家庭聚餐或請客宴會。

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。
我這次點了「東坡肉」與「蝦仁炒飯」，兩道都展現了主廚深厚的火候功力。
東坡肉油亮卻不膩，入口即化、鹹甜交織；蝦仁炒飯粒粒分明、香氣十足，每一口都吃得到鑊氣。
此外，「小籠包」皮薄多汁，是幾乎每桌必點的招牌；港點類如「金牌流沙包」與「干貝燒賣」也都表現穩定。

用餐體驗

三希樓的服務給人一種老派但貼心的感覺。
店員上菜節奏掌握得很好，會主動幫忙分菜、收盤，態度沉穩而不打擾。
最讓我印象深刻的是，這裡的客群非常多元——有帶長輩的家庭、公司聚餐，也有情侶共度節日，卻都能在同一空間裡感到自在。

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。
它不追求創新，而是用穩定的味道與真材實料，抓住每一位饕客的胃。
如果你想在公益路上找一間能兼顧長輩口味、氣氛又不拘謹的中餐廳，三希樓 絕對是最穩妥的選擇。

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。
外觀簡約，沒有華麗招牌，只有小小的木質門面與柔黃燈光。
一推開門，迎面而來的是日式杉木香氣與寧靜的氛圍，吧檯座位整齊排列，主廚站在中間，彷彿舞臺上的演出者。

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。
我這次選擇中價位套餐（約 $1200），共十多道料理，從前菜、小鉢、刺身、握壽司到甜點一氣呵成。
「比目魚鰭邊握」是整場最驚豔的瞬間——主廚以火槍輕炙，油脂瞬間釋放，入口後化成柔滑香氣。
「甜蝦海膽軍艦」則完美展現鮮度與層次感，海膽甘甜、甜蝦緊實。
搭配主廚親自調配的醬汁，每一口都像在品嚐季節的節奏。

用餐體驗

整場用餐約90分鐘，節奏緩慢但沉穩。
主廚會邊料理邊與客人互動，介紹魚種產地與食材處理方式。
雖然整體空間不大，但氣氛極佳——柔和的音樂、清酒的香氣、刀刃切魚時的聲音，讓人完全沉浸其中。
特別喜歡他們最後的甜點「焙茶奶酪」，收尾清爽優雅，為整場體驗畫下完美句點。

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。
這裡沒有多餘擺盤，也不靠噱頭，而是以主廚對食材的尊重與技術堆疊出一場味覺饗宴。
若你想在公益路體驗日本料理最純粹的精神，一笈壽司 絕對值得你預約、靜靜期待。

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。
不管平日或假日，用餐時段幾乎一位難求。外觀以木質格柵搭配大面玻璃設計，呈現出年輕又有質感的風格。店內空間明亮、桌距適中，播放著輕快的音樂，整體氛圍熱鬧中帶點高級感，是許多年輕人聚餐、慶生的首選地。

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。
我這次點的是「厚切牛舌套餐」，肉片厚實彈牙，略帶脆感，搭配鹽蔥提味剛剛好。
另一道「和牛拼盤」也相當受歡迎，油花分布均勻、香氣濃郁，輕烤幾秒即可入口即化。
套餐附餐部分也相當用心：沙拉新鮮、味噌湯濃郁，最後還有一份「茶香冰淇淋」作結尾，香氣清爽，完美收尾。

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。
雖然客人很多，但環境維持得乾淨整潔，動線規劃良好。
最令人印象深刻的是他們的 整體節奏拿捏得剛剛好 ——餐點上桌快、氣氛熱絡，卻不會讓人覺得匆忙。
不論是朋友聚會、家庭聚餐，甚至是情侶約會，都能找到各自的樂趣。

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。
不論是第一次約會還是老朋友重聚，都能在這裡找到屬於燒肉的快樂節奏。
若你在公益路只想挑一家「保證不踩雷」的燒肉店，茶六燒肉堂 絕對是首選。

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？
 最熱鬧的區段大約在「公益路與黎明路口」一帶，這裡聚集了許多知名餐廳，從高級燒肉到早午餐通通有。
像 一頭牛日式燒肉、TANG Zhan 湯棧、茶六燒肉堂 都在這附近，交通方便、停車也相對容易。

Q2：需要提前訂位嗎？
 公益路的熱門餐廳幾乎都建議 提早3～5天訂位，尤其是假日或節慶期間。
特別是 一頭牛日式燒肉、KoDō 和牛燒肉、一笈壽司 這幾家，若臨時前往幾乎很難有位。

最後的話

若要用一句話形容這趟美食之旅，我會說：
「在公益路，吃飯不是選擇，而是一種享受。」
這條路上的每一次用餐，都像一段城市裡的小旅行。
下次當你不確定想吃什麼時，不妨沿著公益路走一圈，或許下一家，正好就是你新的最愛。

TANG Zhan 湯棧春酒活動適合在這裡辦嗎？

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。KoDō 和牛燒肉春酒菜色豐富嗎？

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。一頭牛日式燒肉尾牙預算好掌控嗎？

下一餐，不妨從這10家開始。印月餐廳春酒場面夠體面嗎？

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。一笈壽司好吃嗎？

如果你有私心愛店，也歡迎留言分享，一笈壽司尾牙拍照效果好嗎？

你的推薦，可能讓我下一趟美食旅程變得更精彩。永心鳳茶小孩適合去嗎？

Researchers from UMD found that the same gene for expressing a red fluorescent protein is always expressed (ON), when it is inherited from the mother, but when inherited from the father can lose expression (turn OFF) forever if the mother lacks the gene. Credit: Antony Jose/UMD University of Maryland scientists discover that match matters: The right combination of parents in nematode worms can turn a gene off indefinitely. Evidence suggests that what happens in one generation — diet, toxin exposure, trauma, fear — can have lasting effects on future generations. Scientists believe these effects result from epigenetic changes that occur in response to the environment and turn genes on or off without altering the genome or DNA sequence. But how these changes are passed down through generations has not been understood, in part, because scientists have not had a simple way to study the phenomenon. A new study by researchers at the University of Maryland provides a potential tool for unraveling the mystery of how experiences can cause inheritable changes to an animal’s biology. By mating nematode worms, they produced permanent epigenetic changes that lasted for more than 300 generations. The research was published on July 9, 2021, in the journal Nature Communications. “There’s a lot of interest in heritable epigenetics,” said Antony Jose, associate professor of cell biology and molecular genetics at UMD and senior author of the study. “But getting clear answers is difficult. For instance, if I’m on some diet today, how does that affect my children and grandchildren and so on? No one knows, because so many different variables are involved. But we’ve found this very simple method, through mating, to turn off a single gene for multiple generations. And that gives us a huge opportunity to study how these stable epigenetic changes occur.” In the new study, Jose and his team found while breeding nematode worms that some matings led to epigenetic changes in offspring that continued to be passed down through as many generations as the scientists continued to breed them. This discovery will enable scientists to explore how epigenetic changes are passed to future generations and what characteristics make genes susceptible to permanent epigenetic changes. Jose and his team began this work in 2013, while working with nematode worms, Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a species often used as a model for understanding animal biology. The scientists noticed that worms bred to carry a gene they called T, which produces fluorescent proteins, sometimes glowed and sometimes didn’t. This was puzzling because the glowers and the non-glowers had nearly identical DNA. “Everything began when we stumbled upon a rare gene that underwent permanent change for hundreds of generations just by mating. We could have easily missed it,” said Sindhuja Devanapally (Ph.D. ’18, biological sciences), a co-lead author of the study who is now a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University. To understand the phenomenon better, the researchers conducted breeding experiments in which only the mother or the father carried the fluorescent gene. The team expected that no matter which parent carried the gene, the offspring would glow. Instead, they found that when the mother carried the fluorescent gene, the offspring always glowed, meaning the gene was always turned on. But when the father carried the gene, the offspring usually weakly glowed or did not glow at all. “We found that there are these RNA-based signals controlling gene expression,” Jose said. “Some of these signals silence the gene and some of them are protective signals that prevent silencing. These signals are duking it out as the offspring develop. When the gene comes from the mother, the protective signal always wins, but when the gene comes from the father, the silencing signal almost always wins.” When the silencing signal wins, the gene is silenced for good, or for at least 300 generations, which is how long Jose and his colleagues followed their laboratory-bred worms. Previous examples of epigenetic changes were more complex or they did not last more than a couple of generations. The researchers don’t yet know why the silencing signal only wins some of the time, but this new finding puts them in a much better position to explore the details of epigenetic inheritance than ever before. “While we’ve found a set of genes that can be silenced almost permanently, most other genes are not affected the same way,” said the study’s other co-lead author, Pravrutha Raman (Ph.D. ’19, biological sciences), who is now a postdoctoral fellow at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. “After silencing, they bounce back and become expressed in future generations.” With their new findings, the researchers now believe some genes could be more vulnerable to permanent epigenetic change while other genes recover within a few generations. Although studies in worms are not the same as in humans, the research provides a window into biological processes that are likely shared, at least in part, by all animals. “The two big advantages we now have from this work are that this long-lasting epigenetic change is easy to induce through mating, and that it occurs at the level of a single gene,” Jose said. “Now we can manipulate this gene and control everything about it, which will allow us to determine what characteristics make a gene susceptible or resistant to heritable epigenetic change.” Jose and his colleagues expect that future studies may one day help scientists identify human genes that are vulnerable to long-lasting epigenetic changes. Reference: “Mating can initiate stable RNA silencing that overcomes epigenetic recovery” by Sindhuja Devanapally, Pravrutha Raman, Mary Chey, Samual Allgood, Farida Ettefa, Maïgane Diop, Yixin Lin, Yongyi E. Cho and Antony M. Jose, 9 July 2021, Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24053-4 This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (Award Nos. R01GM111457 and R01GM124356). The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views of this organization. Other authors of the study from UMD include biological sciences Ph.D. candidate Mary Chey, Samual Allgood (B.S. ’15, biological sciences), Farida Ettefa (B.S. ’18, biochemistry), Maïgane Diop (B.S. ’20, biological sciences), Yixin Lin (B.S. ’19, biological sciences; M.Ed. ’20), Yongyi E Cho (B.S. ’20, biological sciences; B.A. ’20, philosophy).

Digital reconstructions of human neurons overlaid on a slice of brain tissue donated by a brain surgery patient. Allen Institute researchers are able to capture electrical information from these live human neurons, as well as their 3D shape and gene expression, through a technique known as Patch-seq. This image shows several different types of human neurons in the medial temporal gyrus of the neocortex, the outermost shell of the mammalian brain. Credit: Allen Institute Hundreds of neuroscientists built a ‘parts list’ of the motor cortex, laying groundwork to map the whole brain and better understand brain diseases. Before you read any further, bring your hand to your forehead. It probably didn’t feel like much, but that simple kind of motion required the concerted effort of millions of different neurons in several regions of your brain, followed by signals sent at 200 mph (320 kph) from your brain to your spinal cord and then to the muscles that contracted to move your arm. At the cellular level, that quick motion is a highly complicated process and, like most things that involve the human brain, scientists don’t fully understand how it all comes together. Now, for the first time, the neurons and other cells involved in a region of the human, mouse, and monkey brains that control movement have been mapped in exquisite detail. Its creators, a large consortium of neuroscientists brought together by the National Institutes of Health’s Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative, say this brain atlas will pave the way for mapping the entire mammalian brain as well as a better understanding of mysterious brain diseases — including those that attack the neurons that control movement, like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. The atlas is described in a special package of 17 articles published today (October 6, 2021) in the journal Nature, including a single flagship paper that describes the entire atlas. Complete, brain-wide reconstructions of several different types of mouse neurons in 3D. A new study led by researchers at the Allen Institute and Southeast University in Nanjing, China, captured the detailed 3D shapes of more than 1,700 individual neurons in the mouse brain, the largest dataset of its kind to date. Studies like this will help neuroscientists piece together detailed views of neural circuits. Each color represents a different individual neuron. Credit: Allen Institute “In a human brain, there are more than 160 billion cells. Our brain has more than 20 times more cells than there are people in this world,” said Hongkui Zeng, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Director of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, a division of the Allen Institute, and lead investigator on several BRAIN Initiative-funded studies. “To understand how a system works, you need to first build a parts list. Then you have to understand what each part is doing and put the pieces together to understand how the whole system works. That’s what we’re doing with the brain.” The massive BRAIN Initiative-funded collaboration involved dozens of research teams around the country who worked together to complete a cell-by-cell atlas of the primary motor cortex, a part of the mammalian brain that controls movement. Combining more than a dozen different techniques to define brain “cell types” across three different species of mammals, the resulting open-access data collection is by far the most comprehensive and detailed map of any part of the mammalian brain ever released. The researchers classified the millions of neurons and other kinds of brain cells present in the motor cortex into many different cell-type categories — the actual number of different brain cell types in this region depends on how they are being measured, but ranges from several dozen to more than 100. Scientists at the Allen Institute are studying human neurons that appear to be highly specialized as compared to their rodent counterparts. One of these newly described neuron types, the CARM1P1 neuron, sends long-range connections in the brain and may be selectively vulnerable in Alzheimer’s disease. Credit: Allen Institute The researchers picked the primary motor cortex in part because it’s similar across all mammalian species — while humans, monkeys and mice have many differences between our brains, the way we control movement is very similar — and because it’s representative of the neocortex, the outermost shell of the mammalian brain that not only integrates sensory and motor information but also gives rise to our complex cognitive functions. This completed atlas is one large step in the effort to create a catalog or census of all brain cell types through the BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network, or BICCN. The NIH launched the BICCN in 2017, awarding nine collaborative network grants, three of which are led by Allen Institute for Brain Science researchers. Like a population census, the cell census aims to catalog all different types of brain cells, their properties, their relative proportions, and their physical addresses to get a picture of the cell populations that together form our brains. Knowing the “normal” brain’s cellular makeup is a key step to understanding what goes wrong in disease. “If we really want to understand how the brain works, we have to get down to its fundamental unit. And that is the cell,” said Ed Lein, Ph.D., Senior Investigator at the Allen Institute for Brain Science and lead investigator on several BRAIN Initiative studies focused on the human brain. “This is also clinically important because cells are the locus of disease. By understanding which cells are vulnerable in different brain diseases, we can better understand and ultimately treat the diseases themselves. The hope with these studies is that by making this fundamental classification of cell types, we can lay the groundwork for understanding the cellular basis of disease.” The atlas’s creators used several different methods to measure a variety of cellular properties to define a cell type by correlating and integrating these properties, which include the complete set of genes a cell switches on; a cell’s “epigenetic” landscape, which defines how genes are regulated; cells’ 3D shapes; their electrical properties; and how they connect to other cells. The single-cell gene expression and epigenetic data were especially important as the researchers were able to use these data to integrate all the other kinds of cell-type data, creating a common framework to classify cell types and compare them within and between species. The studies required not only collaboration among researchers to design and execute the experiments, but also coordination and public sharing of the data that resulted from the atlas project and other projects under the BICCN. The Brain Cell Data Center, or BCDC, is headquartered at the Allen Institute. The data center, led by Allen Institute for Brain Science Investigator Michael Hawrylycz, Ph.D., helps to organize the BICCN consortium and provides a single point of access to the study’s data-archiving centers across the country. “One of our many limitations in developing effective therapies for human brain disorders is that we just don’t know enough about which cells and connections are being affected by a particular disease, and therefore can’t pinpoint with precision what and where we need to target,” said John Ngai, Ph.D., Director of the NIH BRAIN Initiative. “The Allen Institute has played an important role in coordinating the large amounts of data produced by the BRAIN cell census project that provide detailed information about the types of cells that make up the brain and their properties. This information will ultimately enable the development of new therapies for neurologic and neuropsychiatric diseases.” Scientists at the Allen Institute for Brain Science played a role in nine of the 17 published studies and led or co-led six of them. The four primary Allen Institute-led studies explored: How cell types in the primary motor cortex compare across mice, humans, and marmoset monkeys. The research team found that most motor cortex brain cell types have similar counterparts across all three species, with species-specific differences at the level of proportions of cells, their shapes and electrical properties, and individual genes that are switched on and off. For example, humans have about twice as many excitatory neurons as inhibitory neurons in this region of the brain, while mice have five times as many. The researchers also delved into the famous Betz cells, enormous neurons that project to the spinal cord that exist in us, monkeys and many other larger mammals, and captured the first known electrical recordings from human Betz cells, which degenerate in ALS. Mice have evolutionarily related neurons based on shared genetic programs, but their shapes and electrical properties are very different from those in humans. A broader analysis of brain cell types in the human brain, looking at the second and third layers of the 6-layered neocortex. These layers, and the neocortex overall, are much larger and contain a larger diversity of cells in humans and other primates as compared to rodents. Allen Institute researchers used a three-prong technique known as Patch-seq to measure the electrical properties, genes and the 3D shapes of several kinds of neurons in these layers in tissue samples donated by brain surgery patients. The study characterizes these neurons in living human tissues and demonstrates an increased diversity of the types of neurons specialized to communicate between different regions of the human cortex, including delving into a specialized type of human neuron that is especially vulnerable in Alzheimer’s disease. The largest collection to date of complete brain-wide reconstructions of more than 1,700 different neurons in the mouse brain. This form of 3D neuron-tracing is extensive and complicated due to the cells’ lengthy and delicate axons and dendrites, but it yields important information about the long-distance connections different neuron types make through their axon arbors reaching faraway brain regions. Allen Institute researchers find that these neurons’ axon arbors show extremely diverse patterns, some with just a few focused branches while others spread across large areas. For example, some neurons in the structure known as the claustrum send axon arbors in a crown-like fashion around the entire circumference of the neocortex. Characteristic connection patterns like these are a critical attribute used to help classify a brain cell type. The cellular makeup of the mouse primary motor cortex, sorting approximately 500,000 neurons and other brain cells into cell-type categories based on the suite of genes each cell switches on (the “transcriptome”) as well as the gene-regulatory modifications on a cell’s chromosomes (the “epigenome”). Using a range of techniques, Allen Institute researchers and their collaborators generated seven types of transcriptomic and two types of epigenomic datasets, then developed computational and statistical methods to integrate these datasets into shared “evolutionary tree” of cell types. The study led to the discovery of thousands of marker genes and other DNA sequences specific for each of these cell types. Reference: “A multimodal cell census and atlas of the mammalian primary motor cortex BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN)” by BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN), 6 October 2021, Nature. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03950-0 This research was supported by several awards from the National Institutes of Health, including award numbers U19MH114830, U01MH114812, U01MH105982, R01EY023173, and U24MH114827 to Allen Institute for Brain Science researchers. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NIH and its subsidiary institutes.

Grooming mountain gorillas in Bwindi National Park, in a multi-silverback group which is particular to mountain gorillas. Credit: Mike Cranfield, Gorilla Doctors Scientists discover gene flow from an extinct gorilla population to eastern gorillas. An international research study, recently published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, provides a better insight into the evolutionary history of gorillas. The scientists, led by the University of Vienna (Austria) and the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE) in Barcelona (Spain), analyzed the genomes of gorillas using modern statistical methods, including neural networks. The team discovered a gene flow event in this species of apes, which is closely related to humans, from an already extinct lineage to gorillas living today. This is similar to how modern humans and bonobos have preserved genes from extinct groups, which can still be found in our genomes. Humans and gorillas share an exciting aspect in common: In both species, their DNA was mixed during evolution by mating with individuals from other groups which are already extinct today – and for this reason, there was an introgression of genes from one group to another. In the course of evolutionary history, modern humans have exchanged genes with Neanderthals and Denisovans. Mountain gorilla mother and infant together with another adult female during a rest period. Credit: Mike Cranfield, Gorilla Doctors Their legacy can still be found in the genome of many humans nowadays. There are few similar studies addressing this question in great apes, especially gorillas, because there are only a few fossils of our close living relatives, unlike the Homo sapiens, from which ancient DNA could be extracted for analysis. Therefore, the genomes of individuals living today are the only way to reconstruct their evolutionary history, which is of particular importance, because gorillas are threatened with extinction in the wild. Gene flow from ghost population provides new insights into evolutionary history Gorillas are composed of two species (western and eastern gorillas), each of which has two subspecies: Western gorillas include the western lowland gorillas and the cross-river gorillas, while eastern gorillas include the eastern lowland gorillas and the closely related mountain gorillas. In the current study, the leading teams of Tomas Marques-Bonet at the IBE and Martin Kuhlwilm at the University of Vienna, with collaboration of Chris Tyler-Smith and Yali Xue, from the Sanger Institute, analyzed whole genomes of individuals from all four subspecies, including newly sequenced mountain gorilla genomes from Bwindi National Park in Uganda, one of only two places where the few remaining mountain gorillas can be found. Mountain gorilla mother and infant during a rest period. Credit: Mike Cranfield, Gorilla Doctors Innovative statistical methods including the integration of neural networks revealed a surprising result: 40,000 years ago, genes were exchanged between a now-extinct gorilla ghost population and the common ancestor of the eastern lowland gorillas and the mountain gorillas. The scientist Martin Kuhlwilm explains, “Up to 3 % of the genome of today’s eastern gorillas includes remains of genes from this ghost population, which separated from the common ancestors of all gorillas more than 3 million years ago.” And he continues, “On the other hand, we were not able to identify any of these DNA segments in the western gorillas.” Gene flow from ghost population may affect gene functions The international team was able to impress that the genetic input of already extinct ancestors is not only of interest in evolutionary history but can also have functional effects on present-day species. They demonstrated this with an example: The researchers found that a gene encoding a bitter taste receptor was introduced from the ghost population into today’s eastern lowland gorillas and mountain gorillas – and may have afterward been under positive selection. This comes in handy for today’s animals, because this kind of taste receptors probably helps avoid eating poisonous (and bitter-tasting) food. Another interesting result from the analysis is that the eastern gorillas sustain a very small amount of DNA from the ghost population on their X chromosome. Therefore, it seems to be subject to negative selection, which can also be observed in humans and other species. One possible reason for this is that this chromosome exists only in one copy in male individuals, unlike the other chromosomes, and this is why harmful mutations may have a stronger effect. Tomas Marques-Bonet, also a professor of Genetics at the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS) at UPF says, “Our study gives us a better insight into the evolutionary history of gorillas and provides a valuable contribution to help us better understand which effects gene flows from extinct populations can have on current populations.” “Evolutionary genetics is important,” adds Harvinder Pawar, first author of the study, “so that we can learn more about what distinguishes us humans from other apes.” Reference: “Ghost admixture in eastern gorillas” by Harvinder Pawar, Aigerim Rymbekova, Sebastian Cuadros-Espinoza, Xin Huang, Marc de Manuel, Tom van der Valk, Irene Lobon, Marina Alvarez-Estape, Marc Haber, Olga Dolgova, Sojung Han, Paula Esteller-Cucala, David Juan, Qasim Ayub, Ruben Bautista, Joanna L. Kelley, Omar E. Cornejo, Oscar Lao, Aida M. Andrés, Katerina Guschanski, Benard Ssebide, Mike Cranfield, Chris Tyler-Smith, Yali Xue, Javier Prado-Martinez, Tomas Marques-Bonet and Martin Kuhlwilm, 27 July 2023, Nature Ecology & Evolution. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02145-2

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