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Developmental Biology Lab (Breeding Biology Lab)
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A lab that studies how germ cells, the cells that give rise to sperm and eggs, work, using medaka and loach.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring germ cells with medaka and loach
The Developmental Biology Lab uses medaka and loach to study germ cells, the cells that give rise to sperm and eggs.
The loach group led by Professor Takafumi Fujimoto and the medaka group led by Associate Professor Toshiya Nishimura work together to run the lab.
Using medaka, a model fish species, and loach, a non-model species in which clonal reproduction has been found, the lab aims to clarify, at the gene level, reproductive mechanisms shared across species.
The loach group also studies how genome composition affects gamete formation, and develops technologies that use germ cells to preserve and regenerate genetic resources.
Key terms
- Germ cells
- Cells that give rise to sperm and eggs. Unlike somatic cells, they continue to live on across generations
- Clonal reproduction
- A mode of reproduction that produces offspring with exactly the same combination of genes as the parent
- Germ plasm
- The source of germ cells that accumulates inside the egg. It consists of RNA-protein complexes, among other components
NewsLab news
Professor Fujimoto contributed chapters to the newly published Saishin Seishigaku (Latest Spermatology)
A master's student won the Best Presentation Award at the Hokkaido Branch Meeting of the Zoological Society of Japan
A paper on turning fish embryonic cells into germ cells was published in iScience
A paper on zebrafish with only one set of chromosomes was published in Biology of Reproduction
A paper by a doctoral student on sperm head size and fertilization was published in Aquaculture
ResearchResearch themes
The medaka group studies how germ cells are formed and aims to develop technology to create germ cells from somatic cells. The loach group works on the mechanism of clonal reproduction and on technologies to preserve fish genetic resources.
*Illustrative imageHow germ cells are formed
Fish eggs accumulate germ plasm, the source of germ cells. The lab identifies the genes required to form germ cells, and studies how blocking their function destroys germ cells, aiming to apply this to techniques for sterilizing fish.
*Illustrative imageCreating fish from fins
Aiming to develop technology to create germ cells from somatic cells, the cells that make up the body such as fin cells, the lab studies how germ cells are formed and how somatic cells are reprogrammed. If realized, this is expected to help preserve genetic resources and restore endangered species.
*Illustrative imageGenome composition and gamete formation
Using fertilized eggs, primordial germ cells, and germ cells as materials, the loach group uses a variety of methods to study how genome composition affects meiosis and the formation of gametes (sperm and eggs).
*Illustrative imagePreserving and regenerating fish strains
The lab develops genetic resource preservation and regeneration technologies to effectively preserve and regenerate fish strains that breeders and researchers have produced over many years.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Developmental Biology Lab are faculty and students in the doctoral, master's, and undergraduate programs.As of 2025
- ProfessorTakafumi Fujimoto
- Associate ProfessorToshiya Nishimura
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Dojo loach4” Gourami Watcher / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- How germ cells are formed: “Kitano Medaka female by Hino, Tokyo” 根川孝太郎 (Kotaro Negawa) / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Creating fish from fins: “Oryzias latipes” Seotaro / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Genome composition and gamete formation: “Misgurnus anguillicaudatus ( )” Naotake Murayama from San Francisco, CA, USA / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Preserving and regenerating fish strains: “Cryopreservation (NIH BioArt )” Courtesy of NIAID Ryan Kissinger / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Marine Animal Reproductive Biochemistry Lab (Aquaculture Biology Division)): “Erwin National Fish Hatchery eyed rainbow trout eggs 24 March 2022” Ryan Hagerty/USFWS / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Ijiri Lab): “Japanese Eel (Yakushima)” Ffish.asia / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Breeding Biology Lab (Associate Professor Toshiki Uji)): “Nara-034 hg” H. Grobe / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Marine Bioengineering Lab (Prof. Hisae Kasai)): “Nashua NFH American shad fry tank” Katie Marony/USFWS / Public domain (cropped)
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