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：http://www.marihuana.com.tw/yakiniku/index.html

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。

印月餐廳值得專程去嗎？

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。加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物適合多人團聚嗎？

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。KoDō 和牛燒肉肉質如何？

下一餐，不妨從這10家開始。加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物上餐速度快嗎？

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。加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物口味偏臺式還是日式？

如果你有私心愛店，也歡迎留言分享，加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物好吃嗎？

你的推薦，可能讓我下一趟美食旅程變得更精彩。一頭牛日式燒肉長官聚餐合適嗎？

Many modern marine invertebrates have chromosomes with the same structure as their ancestors from over 600 million years ago. Marine invertebrates have preserved their ancient chromosomal structures for over 600 million years, revealing evolution’s conservative nature and the deep genetic links between modern animals and their distant ancestors. Many of today’s marine invertebrates, including sponges and jellyfish, have chromosomes with the same ancient structure they inherited from their primitive ancestors more than 600 million years ago, according to a new study. The surprise finding is a reminder that evolution is conservative — it keeps things that work well, like the organization of genes on a chromosome — and provides a key link between creatures alive today, including humans, and our very distant ancestors. “It emphasizes that even in something as fundamental as their chromosomes, diverse animals resemble each other,” said the study’s senior author, Daniel Rokhsar, the Marthella Foskett Brown Chair in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. “That’s one of the reasons why we can learn so much about human biology from studying fruit flies, nematode worms, jellyfish, and other ‘simple’ model systems — it’s because of the underlying unity of all animals. What we learn about animal diversity affects how we think about ourselves.” The findings were published in the journal Science Advances. A fire or flame jellyfish (Rhopilema esculentum) photographed at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. These jellyfish, a popular food in Japan, are native to the warm temperate waters of the Pacific Ocean. Credit: Bill Abbott, Creative Commons License The new analysis predicts that the first multicellular animals carried their genes in 29 pairs of ancient chromosomal units. As the first animals arose in the oceans and evolved into diverse invertebrates, from sponges to worms to humans, many of these chromosomes have remained intact for half a billion years. For comparison, humans now have 23 pairs of chromosomes, for a total of 46, the result of two duplications and multiple mergers and chromosomal rearrangements since the earliest animals. The study, led by Rokhsar and Oleg Simakov of the University of Vienna in Austria, is the first to compare the chromosomal position of genes from diverse animals, such as sponges, jellyfish, sea scallops and other aquatic invertebrates, allowing the ancestral organization to be inferred and rare changes in chromosome organization to be studied. Though this kind of analysis has been done for fruit flies and many vertebrates, including humans, it is only recently that the chromosome-scale genomes of diverse invertebrates have been determined. The lancelet, or amphioxus, is an invertebrate, but has a similar body plan to a vertebrate. Credit: Vincent Moncorgé Evolution is Conservative Because of increasingly advanced techniques for identifying which genes are close to one another when the chromosome is curled up inside the nucleus, scientists over the past few years have begun assigning genes to chromosomes in several invertebrates: the Florida lancelet, Branchiostoma floridae, a dainty, quill-like sea creature also known as amphioxus; a scallop, Patinopecten yessoensis; a fresh water sponge, Ephydatia muelleri; and the fire jellyfish, Rhopilema esculentum, a cnidarian. Rokhsar, Simakov, and their team extended this set by determining the chromosomal sequences of a fifth animal, a hydra, Hydra vulgaris, another type of cnidarian. Hydra vulgaris is a freshwater species of cnidarians. Credit: Courtesy of the Smithsonian “What we find is remarkable: If you compare those five species with each other, you find that there’s extensive conservation; in many cases, whole chromosomes or big pieces of chromosomes have stayed together. A whole chromosome in a sponge might correspond to a chromosome in a jellyfish,” he said. “They’re not organized in exactly the same way — the genes are in a different order in the various species — but over these long-time scales, a chromosome behaves like a bag of genes that has maintained its integrity since the beginning of animal life in the pre-Cambrian era.” Once they discovered, in their sample of invertebrates, that genes tended to remain together on the same chromosome — something referred to as synteny, from the Greek for “on the same thread” — they predicted that the same would be true of other invertebrates, including sea urchins and various kinds of worms and mollusks. When they looked at the chromosomes of these organisms, they found similar conservation of DNA across chromosomes. All seemed to harken back to the same 29 chromosomal pairs that were present in the early animal ancestors. What does this mean for humans and other vertebrates? An aquarium specimen of the Japanese scallop, Patinopecten yessoensis. Credit: Harum Koh, Creative Commons License “If you compare amphioxus to scallops and then representatives of a lot of different vertebrates — different kinds of fish, like lampreys, chickens, and so forth — you can see that there are 18 different groups of genes that seem to always stick together,” said Rokhsar, who is also a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub investigator and a member of the Joint Genome Institute at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “They always travel together on the same piece of DNA, and so the simplest interpretation is that there were 18 ancestral chromosomes in the proto-vertebrate ancestor.” Rokhsar and his team have long suspected that chromosomes were more preserved than people thought. Over the past 20 years, he and his group have sequenced and analyzed the genomes of diverse animals, including a sea squirt, a placozoan, a species of lancelet and a different species each of sponge, choanoflagellate, sea anemone, octopus, acorn worm, leech, limpet and polychaete worm. While the early “draft” genomes were often fragmented, they nevertheless showed signs that there were anciently conserved groups of genes linked together across diverse animals. Newer technologies that allow whole chromosomes to be determined have confirmed those early hypotheses. The sponge Ephydatia muelleri. Credit: Pfliegler Walter The fact that the genes of diverse invertebrates group together so faithfully, despite hundreds of millions of years of independent evolution, could indicate that for genes to jump around among chromosomes is a lot harder than scientists presumed from their studies of vertebrates, where genes have rearranged more frequently, likely because of genetic drift. “Animals like amphioxus live in huge populations where the rare mutants with rearranged chromosomes are at a disadvantage and typically die out, whereas, in small, subdivided populations, which is more typical of mammals, rearrangements are more likely to survive and spread. That’s one hypothesis,” said Rokhsar. Vertebrates Mixed It Up Alternatively, there may be some unknown reason why sets of genes have to remain together. One famous example is the Hox genes, which determine which end of the animal embryo forms the head and which the tail, and all gradations in between. These genes are all clustered together on one chromosome in most invertebrates, and this clustering is important for their deployment during development. The functional clustering of these genes may be an exception, however, and there’s no evidence yet that the clusters found in the recent study are functionally related, Rokhsar said. The colored lines link similar genes across the chromosomes of five invertebrates — a scallop, a lancelet, a sponge, a jellyfish and a hydra. The amazing lack of crossover shows that genes have largely remained on the same chromosomes through over half a billion years of evolution. Credit: Daniel Rok, Science Advances The simple conservation of chromosomes stops with invertebrates, because early in vertebrate evolution, the entire genome was duplicated twice in the lineage leading to jawed vertebrates, a group that includes mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and most fish. During the course of these large-scale duplications, a series of chromosomal reorganizations forged the genomes of the earliest jawed vertebrates, which eventually gave rise to humans. By tracking groups of genes as they moved from one chromosome to another as the earliest vertebrates evolved, however, Rokhsar and collaborators were able to leap over the vertebrate-invertebrate divide and connect the earliest animal chromosomes with those of contemporary vertebrates. “One of the cool things is that once we infer these ancient proto-chromosomes and organize them on the tree of life, then we can make predictions. If you go and sequence some other genomes, we predict that you will inevitably find that these genes are mixed together on the same chromosome,” he said. “Unlike physics or chemistry, you don’t usually get to make such predictions in biology. But now we know something, in a sense, about almost all animal genomes from this comparison.” For more on this research, see Unraveling the Ancient Stories Hidden in DNA Code. Reference: “Deeply conserved synteny and the evolution of metazoan chromosomes” by Oleg Simakov, Jessen Bredeson, Kodiak Berkoff, Ferdinand Marletaz, Therese Mitros, Darrin T. Schultz, Brendan L. O’Connell, Paul Dear, Daniel E. Martinez, Robert E. Steele, Richard E. Green, Charles N. David and Daniel S. Rokhsar, 2 February 2022, Science Advances. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abi5884 The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (RO1 HD080708), the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, and the Molecular Genetics Unit of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) in Japan, where Rokhsar has a joint appointment as a visiting professor. Other co-authors of the paper are Jessen Bredeson, Kodiak Berkoff and Therese Mitros of UC Berkeley; Ferdinand Marletaz of OIST and University College in the U.K.; Darrin Schultz of UC Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute; Brendan O’Connell and Richard Green of UC Santa Cruz; the late Paul Dear of Mote Research Ltd. in the U.K.; Daniel Martinez of Pomona College; Robert Steele of UC Irvine; and Charles David of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany.

Researchers from Stanford Medicine have discovered that the unique patterns and features of Bengal cats are the result of selective breeding of domestic cat genes, not necessarily from their wild Asian leopard cat ancestors. Researchers studied hundreds of Bengal cats to uncover the genetic origins of their leopard-like patterns and found that their appearance stems largely from domesticated cats. Bengal cats are prized for their appearance; the exotically marbled and spotted coats of these domestic pets make them look like small, sleek jungle cats. But the origin of those coats — assumed to come from the genes of Asian leopard cats that were bred with house cats — turns out to be less exotic. Stanford Medicine researchers, in collaboration with Bengal cat breeders, have discovered that the Bengal cats’ iridescent sheen and leopard-like patterns can be traced to domestic cat genes that were aggressively selected for after the cats were bred with wild cats. “Most of the DNA changes that underlie the unique appearance of the Bengal cat breed have always been present in domestic cats,” said Gregory Barsh, MD, PhD, an emeritus professor of genetics. “It was really the power of breeding that brought them out.” For a study published online on March 25 in the journal Current Biology, Barsh and his colleagues analyzed genes collected from nearly 1,000 Bengal cats over the course of 15 years. Barsh is the senior author of the paper. The results shed light not only on the Bengal cat’s coat but also help answer broader questions about how appearance is encoded in genetics and how different genes work together to yield colors, patterns, and physical features. Bengal cats’ distinctive traits come from domestic genes, not leopard cat ancestry, with selective breeding highlighting these features. Wild Origins Barsh and his colleagues, including senior scientist Christopher Kaelin, PhD, use cats and other animals to study the genetics of physical features. In previous studies, they identified genes responsible for the color coat variation in tabby cats and for the unique markings on the Abyssinian cat. “The big-picture question is how genetic variation leads to variation in appearance,” Barsh said. “This is a question that has all kinds of implications for different species, but we think that cats offer an especially tractable way to study it.” From the 1960s through the 1980s, breeders, led by biologist Jean Mills, crossed the wild Asian leopard cat species Prionailurus bengalensis with domestic cats to create a new, visually striking cat breed. Over many generations, the cats with the desired physical characteristics and temperaments were progressively selected and bred. By 1986, the Bengal cat was recognized as its own new breed by the International Cat Association. Barsh and Kaelin saw Bengals — with their recent genetic origin and unique appearance — as a particularly interesting way to study how genetic variation causes diversity in form, color and pattern. In 2008, they began reaching out to cat breeders, attending cat shows, and collecting cheek swabs and photographs of Bengal cats. Genetic analysis shows Bengal cats’ exotic looks are due to selected domestic genes, debunking myths about their wild heritage and enhancing breeding strategies. Genetic Surprises The Stanford Medicine team suspected that Bengal cats might give them an accessible way to probe the genetics of wild cat colors and patterns that had evolved naturally. But after sequencing 947 Bengal cat genomes, they found something surprising: There were no parts of the wild Asian leopard cat genomes that were found in all Bengal cats. “Nearly every Bengal cat breeder and owner has this idea that the distinctive look of the domestic Bengal cat must have come from leopard cats,” Barsh said. “Our work suggests that’s not the case.” Instead, the genetic signatures suggested that the unique appearance of Bengals was a result of variations in genes that had already been present in domestic cats. The team found something similar when they looked specifically at “glitter”: About 60% of all Bengal cats have particularly soft, iridescent fur that glitters like gold in the sunlight. A mutation in the gene Fgfr2, they showed, is responsible for glitter and comes not from leopard cats but from domestic cats. Glitter and the underlying Fgfr2 mutation are nearly specific to Bengal cats. Interestingly, the mutation reduces the activity of the protein encoded by Fgfr2, rather than rendering it inactive as many mutations do. This sheds light on how variations in genes can cause subtle changes in appearance, the researchers said. Finally, Barsh and Kaelin’s group analyzed the genetics of “charcoal” Bengals, a rare subset of the breed with darker coloring. They uncovered a leopard cat gene linked to the charcoal color, but only when it was combined with domestic cat genome. The leopard cat gene, known as Asip, essentially doesn’t work as well when it’s mixed with the domestic genes — a phenomenon known as genomic incompatibility. So, in leopard cats, Asip doesn’t cause charcoal coloring, but the same gene in domestic cats does. “Hybridization between different species can happen naturally and is responsible for the small amount of Neandertal DNA found in many human genomes,” Barsh explained. “But the wild leopard cat and the domestic cat are more different from each other than humans are from chimpanzees, and it’s remarkable to see how DNA from these distantly related species can exist and work together in a popular companion animal.” A Boost for Biology and Breeders A better understanding of the genetic origins of Bengal cat traits is already helping Bengal breeders fine-tune the way they breed animals to create new colors and patterns. Over the past 15 years, Barsh and Kaelin have worked closely with Bengal cat organizations and given talks at cat shows. They often return ancestry and genetic data to owners to help guide their breeding. “Breeders are extremely interested in our data,” Kaelin said. “They not only want to contribute their cats’ DNA but they also want to be involved and help analyze data and hear about our results. It’s been a great collaboration and a true example of citizen science.” The researchers say there are lessons to be learned in just how powerful artificial selection can be, as the Bengal cat coats could probably have been selected for without the help of the Asian leopard cat. “People have this idea that we have to get access to these distantly related animals to breed beautiful individuals and designer animals,” Barsh said. “But it turns out all the diversity was already there waiting in the domestic cat genome.” Reference: “Ancestry dynamics and trait selection in a designer cat breed” by Christopher B. Kaelin, Kelly A. McGowan, Anthony D. Hutcherson, John M. Delay, Jeremiah H. Li, Sarah Kiener, Vidhya Jagannathan, Tosso Leeb, William J. Murphy and Gregory S. Barsh, 25 March 2024, Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.02.075 Scientists from HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology, Gencove Inc., University of Bern, and Texas A&M University were also authors of the paper. Funding for this research was provided by the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and the National Institutes of Health (grant AR082708).

Fluorescent image of the octopus brain showing the location of different different types of neurons Credit: Niell Lab Researchers have mapped the octopus optic lobe, revealing diverse neuron types and brain growth, offering a model for brain complexity that could inform future research on visual processing and brain evolution. It’s hard for the octopus to pick just one party trick. This magnificent creature swims via jet propulsion, shoots inky chemicals at its enemies, and can change its skin to blend in with its surroundings within seconds. Now, a team of University of Oregon (UO) researchers has investigated yet another distinctive feature of this eight-armed marine animal: its outstanding visual capabilities. They lay out a detailed map of the octopus’s visual system in a new scientific paper. In the map, they classify different types of neurons in a part of the brain devoted to vision. This results in is a valuable resource for other neuroscientists, providing details that could guide future experiments. In addition, it could teach us something about the evolution of brains and visual systems more broadly. The team reports their findings today (October 31) in the journal Current Biology. Cris Niell’s lab at the UO studies vision, mostly in mice. But a few years ago, postdoc Judit Pungor brought a new species to the lab — the California two-spot octopus. Although it is not traditionally used as a study subject in the lab, this cephalopod quickly captured the interest of UO neuroscientists. Unlike mice, which are not known for having good vision, “octopuses have an amazing visual system, and a large fraction of their brain is dedicated to visual processing,” Niell said. “They have an eye that’s remarkably similar to the human eye, but after that, the brain is completely different. Octopus and Human Eyes: Convergent Evolution The last common ancestor between octopuses and humans was 500 million years ago, and the species have since evolved in very different contexts. So scientists didn’t know whether the parallels in visual systems extended beyond the eyes, or whether the octopus was instead using completely different kinds of neurons and brain circuits to achieve similar results.   “Seeing how the octopus eye convergently evolved similarly to ours, it’s cool to think about how the octopus visual system could be a model for understanding brain complexity more generally,” said Mea Songco-Casey, a graduate student in Niell’s lab and the first author on the paper. “For example, are there fundamental cell types that are required for this very intelligent, complex brain?” Identifying Neuron Classes in the Octopus Optic Lobe Here, the team used genetic techniques to identify different types of neurons in the octopus’s optic lobe, the part of the brain that’s devoted to vision. They picked out six major classes of neurons, distinguished based on the chemical signals they send. Looking at the activity of certain genes in those neurons then revealed further subtypes, providing clues to more specific roles. In some cases, the scientists pinpointed particular groups of neurons in distinctive spatial arrangements — for example, a ring of neurons around the optic lobe that all signal using a molecule called octopamine. Fruit flies use this molecule, which is similar to adrenaline, to increase visual processing when the fly is active. So it could perhaps have a similar role in octopuses. “Now that we know there’s this very specific cell type, we can start to go in and figure out what it does,” Niell said. Brain Growth and Immature Neurons About a third of the neurons in the data didn’t quite look fully developed. The octopus brain keeps growing and adding new neurons over the animal’s lifespan. These immature neurons, not yet integrated into brain circuits, were a sign of the brain in the process of expanding! However, the map didn’t reveal sets of neurons that clearly transferred over from humans or other mammalian brains, as the researchers thought it might. “At the obvious level, the neurons don’t map onto each other—they’re using different neurotransmitters,” Niell said. “But maybe they’re doing the same kinds of computations, just in a different way.” Digging deeper will also require getting a better handle on cephalopod genetics. Because the octopus hasn’t traditionally been used as a lab animal, many of the tools that are used for precise genetic manipulation in fruit flies or mice don’t yet exist for the octopus, said Gabby Coffing, a graduate student in Andrew Kern’s lab who worked on the study. “There are a lot of genes where we have no idea what their function is, because we haven’t sequenced the genomes of a lot of cephalopods,” Pungor said. Without genetic data from related species as a point of comparison, it’s harder to deduce the function of particular neurons. Niell’s team is up for the challenge. They’re now working to map the octopus brain beyond the optic lobe, seeing how some of the genes they focused on in this study show up elsewhere in the brain. They are also recording from neurons in the optic lobe, to determine how they process the visual scene. In time, their research might make these mysterious marine animals a little less murky — and shine a little light on our own evolution, too. Reference: “Cell types and molecular architecture of the Octopus bimaculoides visual system” by Jeremea O. Songco-Casey,  Gabrielle C. Coffing, Denise M. Piscopo, Judit R. Pungor, Andrew D. Kern, Adam C. Miller and Cristopher M. Niell, 31 October 2022, Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.10.015

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