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Functional Biology Lab (Marine Resource Development Engineering Division)
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A lab that uses hormones to explore how growth and life-history paths diverge in salmon and trout.
AboutAbout the lab
Reading salmon growth through hormones.
The Functional Biology Lab studies how the growth of salmonid fishes is regulated by hormones.
The lab is interested in how life-history branching points, such as whether fish migrate to the sea or stay in the river, and whether they return from the sea to the river, are determined through growth.
It also investigates how far life history is determined by genetics and how far it changes with the environment.
The lab aims to apply the knowledge and technologies it obtains to aquaculture, hatchery and release programs, and conservation.
Key terms
- Insulin-like growth factor
- A hormone produced mainly in the liver in response to stimulation by growth hormone, which acts on bone and muscle to promote growth.
- Smoltification
- The changes by which juvenile salmon and trout raised in rivers prepare to migrate to the sea, such as turning silver and becoming able to tolerate seawater.
- Hatchery and release programs
- Efforts to increase fish stocks by hatching eggs of salmon and other fish artificially and releasing the reared juveniles into rivers.
NewsLab news
A paper on rainbow trout IGFBP-2b, from joint research with a US researcher, has been accepted
Prof. Lai of the University of Bergen, Norway, has joined the lab as Project Assistant Professor (cross-appointment)
A doctoral student received the Otsuka Award from Hokkaido University and the Kazutaka Ito Award from the Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences
A master's student received the Excellence Award and the Special Judges' Award at HAKODATE Academic Link 2025
A paper from joint research with the University of Bergen, Norway, has been accepted
ResearchResearch themes
From the standpoint of endocrinology, the lab studies how the growth of salmonid fishes is regulated by hormones. Its research ranges from elucidating the mechanisms of growth to identifying the causes of fluctuations in chum salmon stocks and promoting salmon aquaculture.
*Illustrative imageHow the hormones that control growth work
Fish growth is regulated by growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1. Focusing on the proteins that bind IGF-1 in the blood (IGFBPs), the lab produces recombinant proteins to study their functions and has established methods to measure their levels. It also conducts joint research with the University of Bergen in Norway and research institutions in the US.
*Illustrative imageLife-history branching points in masu salmon
Masu salmon in Hokkaido undergo smoltification in the spring of their second year after hatching, changing from a river-dwelling form to a sea-dwelling form, and migrate to the sea. The lab found that smoltification depending on body size occurs by the autumn of the first year, and it studies the mechanism in rearing experiments at the Nanae Freshwater Experimental Station.
*Illustrative imageInvestigating the causes of chum salmon decline through rearing
Japan's chum salmon stocks have declined sharply in recent years. In collaboration with Hokkaido fisheries experiment stations, the lab rears chum salmon in seawater for long periods, reproducing in captivity the environment they experience in the open ocean, in order to clarify the processes and mechanisms by which mortality and maturation begin.
*Illustrative imageSalmon aquaculture in the Tsugaru Strait area
In joint research with Japan Salmon Farm, an aquaculture company based in Aomori Prefecture, the lab identifies problems at production sites and aims to solve them with physiological knowledge and techniques. Through industry–academia–government cooperation, its goal is to create an industrial cluster centered on salmon aquaculture in the Tsugaru Strait area.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Functional Biology Lab are faculty and students in the doctoral program, the master's program, and the undergraduate program.As of 2026
- ProfessorMunetaka Shimizu
- Project Assistant ProfessorFloriana Lai
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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: “Oncorhynchus masou masou-2” Apple2000 / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- How the hormones that control growth work: “Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Gavins Point” USFWS Mountain Prairie / Public domain (cropped)
- Life-history branching points in masu salmon: “Oncorhynchus masou masou-1” Apple2000 / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Investigating the causes of chum salmon decline through rearing: “Chum salmon Grovers Creek Hatchery” K. King/USFWS / Public domain (cropped)
- Salmon aquaculture in the Tsugaru Strait area: “Fish cages” Thomas Bjørkan / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Food Engineering Lab (Marine Resource Development Engineering Division)): “Palmeria palmata” Cwmhiraeth / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Chemical Engineering Lab (Marine Resource Development Engineering Division)): “Millions of scallop shells - geograph.org.uk - 1438086” John Allan / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Food Function Chemistry Lab (Division of Marine Food Science)): “Japanese breakfast dsc04763” David Monniaux / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Food Chemistry and Biochemistry Lab (Marine Food Science Field)): “Feeding Frenzy ( )” USFWS Mountain-Prairie / Public domain (cropped)
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