Yu Shirai

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Yu Shirai

Post Doctoral Researcher


Education:

PhD in Agriculture. Kyoto University, Japan.

MS in Agriculture. Kyoto University, Japan.

BS in Agriculture. Kyoto University, Japan.

Research Interests:

My PhD work was developing an insect gene editing method by adult injection. Currently, I am interested in the molecular mechanisms and evolution of early embryogenesis and metamorphosis in insects.

Publications while at Extavour Lab:

HUH-tagged Cas9 as a platform for efficient ssODN-mediated knock-in via embryo and adult injection in insects. Yu Shirai, Jonchee A. Kao, Tarun Kumar, Naoki Matsuda, Ryoya Nakagawa, Osamu Nureki, Cassandra G. Extavour, Takaaki Daimon Communications Biology, https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-09777-7 (2026). [PubMed]
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Other Publications:
Naoki Matsuda, Momoyo Takahashi, Yu Shirai, Norihide Hinomoto, Takaaki Daimon (2024) Direct parentel CRISPR gene editing in the predatory bug Orius strigicollis, a biocontrol agent against small arthropods. Pest Management Science 80(10): 5465-5472
Tsuyoshi Maruoka, Yu Shirai, Takaaki Daimin, Rei Fujii, MAsako Dannoura, Irmgard Seidl-Adams, Naoki Mori, Naoko Yoshinaga (2024) Knock-Out of ACY-1 Like Gene in Spodoptera litura Supports the Notion that FACs Improve Nitrogen Metabolism. Journal of Chemical Ecology 50(9): 573-580
Yu Shirai, Hajime Ono, Takaaki Daimon (2023) Redundant actions of neuropeptides encoded by the dh-pban gene for larval color pattern formation in the oriental armyworm Mythimna separata. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 157: 103955

Yu Shirai, Momoyo Takahashi, Manabu Ote, Hirotaka Kanuka, Takaaki Daimon (2023) DIPA-CRISPR gene editing in the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae). Applied Entomology and Zoology, 58(3) 273-278

Yu Shirai, Maria-Dolors Piulachs, Xavier Belles, Takaaki Daimon (2022) DIPA-CRISPR is a simple and accessible method for insect gene editing. Cell Reports Methods 2, 100215

Yu Shirai, Takahiro Ohde, Takaaki Daimon (2021) Functional conservation and diversification of yellow-y in lepidopteran insects. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 128, 103515

Yu Shirai, Takaaki Daimon (2020) Mutations in cardinal are responsible for the red-1 and peach eye color mutants of the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 529, 372-378