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Ocean is the source of life and has given rise to biodiversity. To understand our planet and human beings, knowledge about marine organisms are essential. The 21st century is the era of life and environmental sciences. Shimoda Marine Research Center (SMRC), the center for the research and education of marine biology in University of Tsukuba, aims to explore the basic principles of life and interactions among organisms through education and research using both basic and advanced technologies on marine organisms.
- January 15th, 2021
Assist. Prof. Ben Harvey, Assist. Prof. Koetsu Kon, Assist. Prof. Sylvain Agostini, Assist. Prof. Shigeki Wada and Prof. Jason Hall-Spencer have found that future ocean acidification will have a profound effect in shaping the development of algal communities. Using a natural CO2 seep on Shikine Island, Japan, it was found that ocean acidification truncates the normal successional trajectories of communities, and will cause marine ecosystems to become highly simplified and dominated by turf algae. These findings highlight that without reducing atmospheric CO2 we may increasingly observe the loss of large algal habitats and the spread of fast-growing, small opportunistic species. This research was published in Global Change Biology on the 11th January 2021.
⇒University of Tsukuba research news- June 12th, 2020
Profs. Jason Hall-Spencer and Kazuo Inaba published a collaborative research with Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Xiamen University, Monash University and University of Tasmania on the flagellar motility of unicellular green algae in the journal ’Nature Climate Change’.
Decreased motility of flagellated microalgae long-term acclimated to CO2-induced acidified waters.
⇒University of Tsukuba news article (in Japanese)- May 25th, 2020
Associate Prof. Shunsuke Yaguchi, Post-doctoral fellow Junko Yaguchi, and Ph.D. Student Haruka Suzuki in Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba, have created a genome edited sea urchin strain. Using CRISPR-Cas9 system, they have knockout Pks1 gene, which is responsible for pigment synthesis, and have created albino sea urchins. This work was done in collaboration with researchers of National Institute of Genetics, Ochanomizu University, and Hiroshima University. This result is published in Current Biology.
⇒Journal site
⇒University of Tsukuba research topics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/urchin_lab- May 11th, 2020
Professors Kazuo Inaba and Jason Hall-Spencer (University of Plymouth) published the first English-language book 'Japanese Marine Life - A Practical Training Guide in Marine Biology’ from Springer Nature. This book is aimed to be a marine biology textbook for increasing foreign students to Japan, as well as introducing Japanese marine fauna and flora to students and researchers in marine biology. Teaching staff of SMRC, as well as marine biologists in Japanese marine stations, participate in this book as authors.
⇒ Japanese Marine Life - A Practical Training Guide in Marine Biology- April 27th, 2020
- Newspapers from around Japan covered the research on going around Izu and at the Shikine CO2 seep.
- April 21st, 2020
In collaboration with researchers from the Universities of Palermo (Italy) and Plymouth (UK), Assist. Prof Sylvain Agostini, Assist. Prof. Ben Harvey, Assist. Prof. Shigeki Wada and Prof. Kazuo Inaba, recently published their research in the journal "Science of the Total Environment" on the effect of ocean acidification on corals and macroalgae and the cascading effects on the fish communities. The surveys conducted at the CO2 seep off the shore of Shikine Island, showed that increasing levels of CO2 lead to the loss of corals and macroalgae and an increase in turf algae. This shift from complex reefs to habitats dominated by opportunistic low-profile algae led to a 45% decrease of fish diversity, with a loss of coral-associated species and a rearrangement of feeding behaviour.
⇒Changes in fish communities due to benthic habitat shift under ocean acidification condition." Science of the Total Environment
⇒ University of Tsukuba research topics
- March 31st, 2020
Prof. Yasunori Sasakura, his colleagues and collaborators demonstrate that neurotransmitter GABA is a key regulator of metamorphosis in the ascidian Ciona. This study was on-line published in the journal Current Biology on March 26, 2020.
⇒"GABA-Induced GnRH Release Triggers Chordate Metamorphosis" Current Biology
⇒ University of Tsukuba research topics
- March 25th, 2020
Kei Jokura (a PhD student, Inaba lab, SMRC) was awarded the Presidents Award for his academic and research performance during his PhD course.
- February 27th, 2020
Prof. Jason Hall-Spencer gave an evening lecture on the ocean acidification at the Linnean Society of London, a historical well-renowned society in the world. The Society once had a fellow Charles Darwin and the first female President Irene Manton.
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