On May 14th, professor ZHAO Chengtian from Ocean University of China was invited to the Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of Chinese Academy of Sciences, for academic exchange. He delivered a lecture titled "Trichodina: A New Model for Studying Development and Regeneration".    

As a new model for studying development and regeneration, Prof. ZHAO Chengtian's report explained Trichodina in various aspects such as morphological structure, living habits, and evolutionary status. Prof. ZHAO introduced in detail the process of coordinated movement between Trichodina cells, revealing that the intercellular communication signals in Trichodina are primarily achieved through neurotransmitters (including small molecular compounds and neuropeptides). His team has completed the genome assembly and annotation of Trichodina at the level of third-generation chromosomes, conducted single-cell mapping and identification, and conducted in-depth research on the expression and localization of Trichodina neuropeptides. They also discovered that the peripheral parts of Trichodina have regenerative capabilities, while the central parts do not, suggesting that there may be stem cell populations in the periphery. Through methods such as single-cell omics analysis, stem cell-specific gene expression localization, and identification of key transcription factors for regeneration, they explored the regenerative process and stem cell origin of Trichodina. Finally, Prof. ZHAO's team actively explores new Trichodina species. Given that the understanding of such organisms is still limited, they will continue to conduct in-depth research and discover more new species in the future, unveiling the mysterious veil of these organisms and exploring their important functions in biological evolution. 

The report aroused widespread interest among the participants, and they engaged in in-depth discussions on scientific issues such as the regenerative mechanism of Trichodina and its functions in biological evolution. 

ZHAO Chengtian is a professor and doctoral supervisor at Ocean University of China, a recipient of the National Outstanding Young Scientist Fund, and a specially appointed expert of Shandong Province's "Taishan Scholar" program. He mainly focuses on the research of ciliary development and evolutionary mechanisms, as well as the pathogenic mechanisms of ciliary genetic diseases, using Trichodina and zebrafish as model organisms. He has published his achievements in the core journals of this field, including Nature Genetics, PNAS, EMBO J, and PLOS Biology. He has received research support from multiple talent development programs, hosted several projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation's Outstanding Young Scientists Fund. He has been selected for the Ministry of Education's "New Century Excellent Talents" program and the "National Million Talents Program," and has been awarded the title of "Outstanding Young Expert with Contributions."