Kazuya KOBAYASHI, Ph.D.

Associate professor in Hokkaido Forest Research Station, Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto university

Sexual reproduction is a ubiquitous phenomenon on earth. For the sexual reproduction, individuals need to invest in male function (sons or pollen) that cannot contribute to population growth. If the natural selection chooses reproductive system based solely on efficiency, any organisms will use asexual reproduction but the real is not. This has been a long-lived mystery for evolutionary biologists. Another aspect of sexual reproduction is a source of diversity. Since Darwin’s era, some traits of males has been recognized as useless for survival but beneficial for mating: singing songs and dressed with beautiful feathers to attract females, or armed by weapons to fight rivals for mating opportunities. The natural world is glittering with wide variety of such sexual traits. If you are interested in these studies, please contact me.

For those who are interested in entering my lab

My main research interests are sexual reproduction and the evolution of various traits in plants and animals that arise in relation to sexual reproduction. Topics of particular interest include

Sexual selection: How do traits for mate acquisition evolve?
Kin selection: under what conditions does cooperative behavior evolve?
Plant behavioral ecology: How do plants perceive and act on their surroundings?
Intraspecific variation and evolution in biological communities: How do individual differences within a species affect other species?

If you want to study any of these, you are welcome, please contact me in email. Please let me know what you are interested in and I will be happy to discuss it with you.

CV

  • 2003.4-2007.3 B.E. degree at Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University
  • 2007.4-2009.3 M.E. degree at Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University
  • 2009.4-2012.3 Ph.D. degree at Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University
  • 2012.4-2014.3 Research assistant at Insect ecology lab., Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University
  • 2014.4-2017.1 JSPS Research fellow (PD) at Insect ecology lab., Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University
  • 2017.2-2021.9 Junior associate professor in Hokkaido Forest Research Station, Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto university
  • 2021.10-present Associate professor in Hokkaido Forest Research Station, Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto university

SNS (mainly in Japanese)

Links

Contact Information

Hokkaido Forest Research Station, Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto university
553 Tawa, Shibecha-cho, Kawakami-gun, Hokkaido 088-2339, Japan
e-mail: kobayashi.kazuya.3w (at) kyoto-u.ac.jp
Tel: +81-(0)15-485-2637
Fax: +81-(0)15-485-4016

Publications

Google Scholar Citations
ORCID: 0000-0002-9475-6807
  1. Ayaka Agarie, Yasushi Miyaguni, Koji Sugio, Kazuki Tsuji & Kazuya Kobayashi.

    Male's influence on the primary sex ratio bias in Ryukyu drywood termite.

    Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. Vol.10: 1081043. 2023.
  2. Yasushi Miyaguni, Ayaka Agarie, Koji Sugio, Kazuki Tsuji & Kazuya Kobayashi.

    Caste development and sex ratio of the Ryukyu drywood termite Neotermes sugioii and its potential mechanisms.

    Scientific Reports. Vol.11: 15037. 2021.
  3. Sumaiya Rahila I. K., Momoka Nii, Takuya Okabe, Hiromu Ito, Muhammad Almaududi Pulungan, Satoru Morita, Kazuya Kobayashi, Mitsutoshi Setou, Kikuo Iwabuchi, Kenji Matsuura & Jin Yoshimura.

    Energetic requirement of transition from solitary to group living.

    Ecological Complexity. Vol.44: 100874. 2020.
  4. Ayaka Agarie, Yasushi Miyaguni, Koji Sugio & Kazuya Kobayashi.

    Male-specific alleles in the Ryukyu drywood termite Neotermes sugioi.

    Ecology and Evolution. Vol.10: 9584-9587. 2020.
  5. Masato Yamamichi, Daisuke Kyogoku, Ryosuke Iritani, Kazuya Kobayashi, Yuma Takahashi, Kaori Tsurui-Sato, Akira Yamawo, Shigeto Dobata, Kazuki Tsuji & Michio Kondoh.

    Intraspecific Adaptation Load: a Mechanism for Species Coexistence.

    Trends in Ecology & Evolution. Vol.35: 897-907. 2020.
  6. Kaoru Tsuji*, Kazuya Kobayashi*, Eisuke Hasegawa & Jin Yoshimura.

    Dimorphic flowers modify the visitation order of pollinators from male to female flowers.

    Scientific Reports. Vol.10: 9965. 2020. *:Equal contributors
  7. Kazuya Kobayashi.

    Conditions for kin selection to bring cooperation and improve population growth: A response to Iritani.

    Journal of Ecology. Vol.108: 14-16. 2020.
  8. Takahiro Otsuki, Daisuke Uka, Hiromu Ito, Genki Ichinose, Momoka Nii, Satoru Morita, Takuma Sakamoto, Maaya Nishiko, Hiroko Tabunoki, Kazuya Kobayashi, Kenji Matsuura, Kikuo Iwabuchi & Jin Yoshimura.

    Mass killing by female soldier larvae is adaptive for the killed male larvae in a polyembryonic wasp.

    Scientific Reports. Vol.9: Article 7357. 2019.
  9. Kazuya Kobayashi.

    Sexual reproduction and diversity: connection between sexual selection and biological communities via population dynamics.

    Population Ecology. Vol.61:135-140. 2019.
  10. Kazuya Kobayashi.

    Sexual selection sustains biodiversity via producing negative density-dependent population growth.

    Journal of Ecology. Vol.107: 1433-1438. 2019.
  11. Pierre-Andre Eyer, Kenji Matsuura, Edward Vargo, Kazuya Kobayashi, Toshihisa Yashiro, Wataru Suehiro, Chihiro Himuro, Tomoyuki Yokoi, Benoit Guenard, Rob Dunn & Kazuki Tsuji

    Inbreeding tolerance as a pre-adapted trait for invasion success in the invasive ant Brachyponera chinensis.

    Molecular Ecology. Vol.27: 4711-4724. 2018.
  12. Eisuke Tasaki, Yuki Mitaka, Tomonari Nozaki, Kazuya Kobayashi, Kenji Matsuura, & Yoshihito Iuchi.

    High expression of the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1 in long-lived termite kings.

    Aging. Vol. 10: 2668-2683. 2018.
  13. Yuki Mitaka, Eisuke Tasaki, Tomonari Nozaki, Taro Fuchikawa, Kazuya Kobayashi & Kenji Matsuura.

    Transcriptomic analysis of epigenetic modification genes in the termite Reticulitermes speratus.

    Insect Science. Vol.27: 202-211. 2020. Online First: 10 September 2018.
  14. Toshihisa Yashiro, Nathan Lo, Kazuya Kobayashi, Tomonari Nozaki, Taro Fuchikawa, Nobuaki Mizumoto, Yusuke Namba & Kenji Matsuura

    Loss of males from mixed-sex societies in termites.

    BMC Biology. Vol. 16: 96. 2018.
  15. Kenji Matsuura, Nobuaki Mizumoto, Kazuya Kobayashi, Tomonari Nozaki, Tadahide Fujita, Toshihisa Yashiro, Taro Fuchikawa, Yuki Mitaka & Edward L. Vargo.

    A genomic imprinting model of termite caste determination: Not genetic but epigenetic inheritance influences offspring caste fate.

    American Naturalist. American Society of Naturalists. Vol.191: 677-690. 2018.
  16. Eisuke Tasaki, Kazuya Kobayashi, Kenji Matsuura & Yoshihito Iuchi.

    Long-lived termite queens exhibit high Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase activity.

    Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity. Hindawi. Vol.2018: Article ID 5127251. 2018.
  17. Eisuke Hasegawa, Nobuaki Mizumoto, Kazuya Kobayashi, Shigeto Dobata, Jin Yoshimura, Saori Watanabe, Yuuka Murakami & Kenji Matsuura.

    Nature of collective decision-making by simple yes/no decision units.

    Scientific Reports. Nature publishing group. Vol.7: Article 14436. 2017.
  18. Yuki Mitaka, Kazuya Kobayashi & Kenji Matsuura.

    Caste-, sex-, and age-dependent expression of immune-related genes in a Japanese subterranean termite, Reticulitermes speratus.

    PLOS ONE. Public Library of Science. Vol.12: e0175417. 2017.
  19. Kazuya Kobayashi.

    Sex allocation promotes the stable co-occurrence of competitive species.

    Scientific reports. Nature publishing group. Vol.7: Article 43966. 2017.
  20. Eisuke Tasaki, Kazuya Kobayashi, Kenji Matsuura & Yoshihito Iuchi.

    An efficient antioxidant system in a long-lived termite queen.

    PLOS ONE. Public Library of Science. Vol.12: e0167412. 2017.
  21. Shuichiro Imai, Kazuya Kobayashi, Yusaku Ohkubo, Norihiro Yagi, & Eisuke Hasegawa.

    Difference in evolutionary patterns of strongly or weakly selected characters among ant populations.

    Scientific reports. Nature publishing group. Vol.6: Article 39451. 2016.
  22. Kazuya Kobayashi* & Yasushi Miyaguni*.

    Facultative parthenogenesis in the Ryukyu drywood termite Neotermes koshunensis.

    Scientific reports. Nature publishing group. Vol.6: Article 30712. 2016. *:Equal contributors
  23. Kazuya Kobayashi & Eisuke Hasegawa.

    A female-biased sex ratio reduces the twofold cost of sex.

    Scientific reports. Nature publishing group. Vol.6: Article 23982. 2016.
  24. Eisuke Hasegawa, Yasunori Ishii, Koichiro Tada, Kazuya Kobayashi & Jin Yoshimura.

    Lazy workers are necessary for long-term sustainability in insect societies.

    Scientific reports. Nature publishing group. Vol.6: Article 20846. 2016.
  25. Yuki Mitaka*, Kazuya Kobayashi*, Alexander Mikheyev, Mandy M. Y. Tin, Yutaka Watanabe & Kenji Matsuura.

    Caste-specific and sex-specific expression of chemoreceptor genes in a termite.

    PLOS ONE. Public Library of Science. Vol.11: e0146125. 2016. *:Equal contributors
  26. Nobuaki Mizumoto, Kazuya Kobayashi & Kenji Matsuura.

    Emergence of intercolonial variation in termite shelter tube patterns and prediction of its underlying mechanism.

    Royal Society Open Science. Royal society publishing. Vol.2: 150360. 2015.
  27. Misato Okamoto, Kazuya Kobayashi, Eisuke Hasegawa & Kyohsuke Ohkawara.

    Sexual and asexual reproduction of queens in a myrmicine ant, Vollenhovia emeryi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

    Myrmecological News. Austrian Society of Entomofaunistics. Vol.21: pp.13-17. 2015.
  28. Hiromi Asanuma, Satoshi Kakishima, Hiromu Ito, Kazuya Kobayashi, Eisuke Hasegawa, Takahiro Asami, Kenji Matsuura, Derek A. Roff & Jin Yoshimura.

    Evolutionary optimality in sex differences of longevity and athletic performances.

    Scientific reports. Nature publishing group. Vol.4: Article 5425. 2014.
  29. Kazuya Kobayashi, Jin Yoshimura & Eisuke Hasegawa.

    Coexistence of sexual individuals and genetically isolated asexual counterparts in a thrips.

    Scientific reports. Nature publishing group. Vol.3: Article 3286. 2013.
  30. Kazuya Kobayashi, Eisuke Hasegawa, Yuuka Yamamoto, Kazutaka Kawatsu, Edward L. Vargo, Jin Yoshimura & Kenji Matsuura.

    Sex ratio biases in termites provide evidence for kin selection.

    Nature Communications. Nature publishing group. Vol.4: Article 2048. 2013.
  31. Kazuya Kobayashi & Eisuke Hasegawa.

    Isolation of microsatellite loci from the onion thrips, Thrips tabaci.

    Journal of Insect Science. University of Wisconsin Libraries. Vol.13: Article 30, 2013.
  32. Kazuya Kobayashi & Eisuke Hasegawa.

    Discrimination of reproductive forms of Thrips tabaci Lindeman (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) by PCR with sequence specific primers.

    Journal of Economic Entomology. Entomological Society of America. Vol.105: pp.555-559, 2012.
  33. Kazuya Kobayashi, Kei Tamura, Misato Okamoto, Eisuke Hasegawa & Kyohsuke Ohkawara.

    Phylogenetic relationships among populations of Vollenhovia ants, with particular focus on the evolution of wing morphology.

    Annals of the entomological society of America. Entomological Society of America. Vol. 105: pp.454-461, 2012.
  34. Eisuke Hasegawa, Izumi Yao, Kyoko Futami, Norihiro Yagi, Kazuya Kobayashi & Shin-ichi Kudo.

    Isolation of microsatellite loci from the millipede, Brachycybe nodulosa Verhoeff.

    Conservation Genetics Resources. Springer. Vol.4: pp.89-91, 2012.
  35. Eisuke Hasegawa, Kazuya Kobayashi, Norihiro Yagi & Kazuki Tsuji.

    Complete mitochondrial genomes of normal and cheater morphs in the parthenogenetic ant Pristomyrmex punctatus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

    Myrmecological news. Austrian Society of Entomofaunistics. Vol.15: pp.85-90. 2011.
  36. Kazuya Kobayashi, Eisuke Hasegawa & Kyohsuke Ohkawara.

    No gene flow between wing forms and clonal reproduction by males in the long-winged form of the ant Vollenhovia emeryi.

    Insectes Sociaux. Springer. Vol.58: pp.163-168. 2011.
  37. Kazuya Kobayashi, Eisuke Hasegawa & Kyohsuke Ohkawara.

    Clonal reproduction by males in the ant Vollenhovia emeryi (Wheeler).

    Entomological Science. Blackwell publishing. Vol.11: pp.167-172. 2008.
inserted by FC2 system