Public Work

  • Kenro Kusumi giving a talk on a stage with blue lights twinkling in the background

    The future of regenerative therapies

    What’s so special about Anole Lizards? Kenro Kusumi uses his research and training to illustrate the extraordinary powers of regeneration of limbs in reptiles. By utilising bioengineering and manufacturing, Dr. Kusumi envisions a future where humans might be able to benefit from innovative regenerative therapies.

    Watch now at TEDx
  • Sea slug with its head separated from its body.

    Meet the sea slugs that chop off their heads and grow new bodies

    According to Dr. Kusumi, the sea slugs in question have all the best traits found in animals capable of complex regeneration. For example, these sea slugs have a “breakage plane” along their necks that allows for a clean break. Many lizards, including geckos, have a similar breakage plane near the base of their tail.

    Read more
  • Kenro Kusumi at a desk in front of a computer monitor featuring an image of a desert tortoise

    Decoded genome may help tortoise win race to survive

    “What’s challenging now is decoding the information in the tortoise genome. We can use clues from similarities with the mouse and human genomes. Finding the proverbial ‘needle in the haystack’ would be to identify the genes that direct the immune response to infectious disease, as well as the ability to survive the harsh conditions of the Mojave Desert.”

    Keep reading

  • Alligators can regrow their tails, new study finds

    In a 2020 study co-authored by Dr. Kusumi published in Scientific Reports, it was discovered that juvenile alligators have the ability to regrow their tails up to 9 inches. Kusumi’s team used advanced imaging techniques to find that alligators' regrown tails had a central cartilage skeleton without any bone, exhibiting features of both regeneration and wound repair.

    Read more at CNN

Publications

  • Edwards T, Tollis M, Hsieh P-H, Gutenkunst RN, Liu Z, Kusumi K, Culver M, Murphy RW. Assessing models of speciation under different biogeographic scenarios: an empirical study using multi-locus and RNA-seq analyses. Ecol Evol. 2016 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1865

  • Hutchins ED^, Eckalbar WL^, Wolter JM, Mangone M, Kusumi K. Differential expression of conserved and novel microRNAs during tail regeneration in the lizard Anolis carolinensis. BMC Genomics. 2016 17:339https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-016-2640-3.

  • Djordjevic D, Kusumi K, Ho JWK. XGSA: a statistical method for cross-species gene set analysis. Bioinformatics. 2016 32(17): i620-i628. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btw428

  • Rupp SM, Webster TH, Olney KC, Hutchins ED, Kusumi K, Wilson Sayres MA. Evolution of Dosage Compensation in Anolis carolinensis, a Reptile with XX/XY Chromosomal Sex Determination. Genome Biol Evol. 2017 Jan 1;9(1):231-240. doi:10.1093/gbe/evw263

  • Tollis M, DeNardo DF, Cornelius JA, Dolby GA, Edwards T, Henen BT, Karl AE, Murphy RW, Kusumi K. The Agassiz’s desert tortoise genome provides a resource for the conservation of a threatened species. PLOS ONE. 2017 12(5): e0177708. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177708

  • Giampietro PF, Pourquie O, Raggio C, Ikegawa S, Turnpenny PD, Gray R, Dunwoodie SL, Gurnett CA, Alman B, Cheung K, Kusumi K, Hadley-Miller N, Wise C.. Summary of the First Inaugural Meeting of the International Consortium for Scoliosis Genetics and the International Consortium for Vertebral Anomalies and Scoliosis, March 16-18, 2017, Dallas, Texas. Am J Med Genet, 2017 176A:253-256. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajmg.a.38550

  • Kusumi K. Investigating Regeneration: Extended Rebuilding Capacity. Dev Cell. 2017 43:375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2017.11.009

  • Tokuyama M, Xu C, Fisher RE, Wilson-Rawls J, Kusumi K, Newbern JM. Developmental and adult-specific processes contribute to de novo neuromuscular regeneration in the lizard tail. Dev Biol. 2018 433:287-296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2017.10.003

  • Tollis M^, Hutchins ED^, Stapley J, Rupp SM, Eckalbar WL, Maayan I, Lasku E, Infante C, Dennis SR, Robertson JA, May C, Crusoe MR, Bermingham E, DeNardo DF, Hsieh ST, Huentelman MJ, Kulathinal R, McMillan O, Menke DB, Pratt SC, Rawls A, Sanjur O, Wilson-Rawls J, Wilson Sayres MA, Fisher RE, Kusumi K. Comparative genomics reveals accelerated evolution in conserved pathways during the diversification of anole lizards. Genome Biol Evol. February 2018 10(2):489-506 https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evy013

  • Sannan NF, Shan X, Gregory-Evans K, Kusumi K, Gregory-Evans CY. Anolis carolinensis as a model to understand molecular and cellular basis of foveal development. Exp Eye Res. 2018 pii: S0014-4835(18)30052-6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exer.2018.05.012

  • Palade J, Djordjevic D, Hutchins ED, George R, Cornelius JA, Rawls A, Ho JWK, Kusumi K, Wilson-Rawls J. Identification of satellite cells from anole lizard skeletal muscle and demonstration of increased musculoskeletal potential. Dev Biol. 2018 433:344-356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2017.08.037

  • Xu C, Hutchins ED, Tokuyama MA, Wilson-Rawls J, Kusumi K. Transcriptional analysis of scar-free wound healing during early stages of tail regeneration in the lizard, Anolis carolinensis. J Immunol Regen Med. March 2020 7(2020):100025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regen.2019.100025

  • Orton JP, Morales M, Fontenele RS, Schmidlin K, Kraberger S, Leavitt DJ, Webster TH, Wilson MA, Kusumi K, Dolby GA, Varsani A. Virus Discovery in Desert Tortoise Fecal Samples: Novel Circular Single-Stranded DNA Viruses. Viruses. 2020 Jan 26;12(2). pii: E143. https://doi.org/10.3390/v12020143

  • Dolby GA, Morales M, Webster TH, DeNardo DF, Wilson MA, Kusumi K. Discovery of a New TLR Gene and Gene Expansion Event through Improved Desert Tortoise Genome Assembly with Chromosome-Scale Scaffolds. Genome Biol Evol. 2020 Feb 1;12(2):3917-3925. https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaa016

  • Xu C, Dolby GA, Drake KK, Esque TC, Kusumi K. Immune and sex-biased gene expression in the threatened Mojave desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii. PLOS ONE 2020 26;15(8):e0238202. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238202

  • Xu C, Palade J, Fisher RE, Smith CI, Clark AR, Sampson S, Bourgeois R, Rawls A, Elsey RM, Wilson-Rawls J, Kusumi K. Comparative anatomy and histology reveal that the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) exhibits regenerative capacity of the tail. Sci Rep 2020 10:20122. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-77052-8

  • Romero-Diaz C, Xu C, Campos SM, Herrmann MA, Kusumi K, Hews DK, Martins EP. Brain transcriptomic responses of Yarrow’s spiny lizard, Sceloporus jarrovii, to conspecific visual or chemical signals. Genes Brain Behavior. May 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/gbb.12753

  • Westfall AK, Telemeco RS, Grizante MB, Waits DS, Clark AD, Simpson DY, Klabacka RL. Sullivan AP. Perry GH, Cox CL, Cox RM, Gifford ME, John-Alder HB, Sears MW, Angilletta MJ, Tollis M, Leaché AD, Langkilde T, Kusumi K, Schwartz TS. A chromosome-level genome assembly for the Eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus), a reptile model for physiological and evolutionary ecology. Gigascience. In press.

Research Activity

  • Dolby, Greer; Kusumi, Kenro. Collaborative Research: Testing Evolutionary Psuedocongruence Along the Baja California Peninsula Through Integration of Geologic and Genomic Data. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (10/1/19-9/30/22).

  • Dolby, Greer; Kusumi, Kenro. AZGF/ASU Sonora Mud Turtle Project. ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND FISH (3/26/20-12/31/25).

  • DeNardo, Dale; Dolby, Greer; Kusumi, Kenro. IMAGiNE: Testing multi-level controls on an aridity tolerance phenotype over time through physiogenomic data integration. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (9/1/21-8/31/24).

  • McCracken, Shawn; Kusumi, Kenro; Dolby, Greer. “Conservation genomics and disease ecology of the Texas tortoise, Gopherus berlandieri” TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT (1/1/22-12/31/24)