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Marine Molecular Microbiology Lab
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A lab that explores marine ecosystems and genetic resources through ocean microorganisms and the viruses that infect them.
AboutAbout the lab
Seeing great potential in tiny microorganisms.
The Marine Molecular Microbiology Lab studies microorganisms living in oceans and lakes: phages, bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotic microalgae.
Combining ecology, physiology and biochemistry, and molecular biology, the lab investigates microbial diversity, survival strategies, and interactions with other organisms.
The lab also aims to make use of novel genetic resources found in microorganisms.
Undergraduates join the Marine Biological Science course in their third year and are assigned to this lab within the course in their fourth year (graduate students belong to the Division of Applied Biosciences, Graduate School of Agriculture).
Key terms
- Primary production
- The production of organic matter from carbon dioxide, such as through photosynthesis. In the ocean, microorganisms are mainly responsible for it.
- Phage
- A virus that infects bacteria. Phages are extremely abundant, with huge numbers present in just 1 mL of seawater.
- Microalgae
- Algae so small that they can only be seen under a microscope. They carry out much of the photosynthesis in the ocean.
NewsLab news
Paper on the effects of viral infection of algae on bacterial communities published in mSystems
Paper on bacteria that respire using carbon monoxide published in The ISME Journal
Paper on genome sequencing of bacteria isolated from Osaka Bay published in Microbial Resource Announcements
A master's student received the Young Researcher Presentation Award at the 9th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Symbiotic Biology
Paper by a project researcher published in Genome Biology and Evolution
ResearchResearch themes
The lab conducts comprehensive research on microorganisms in oceans and lakes and the viruses that infect them, from isolating the microbes to elucidating their physiology, ecology, and genomes. Its goals are to understand how marine ecosystems work and to put useful genetic resources to use.
*Illustrative imageMarine ecosystems driven by viruses
Every day, many marine microorganisms die from viral infection, and other microorganisms use the organic matter they release. By analyzing gene expression, the lab examines how the periodicity of infection drives material cycling in the ocean and even affects the growth of juvenile fish.
*Illustrative imageBacteria that use carbon monoxide
Bacteria that oxidize carbon monoxide to produce hydrogen are thought to retain an ancient respiratory mechanism. The lab isolates new species and elucidates their metabolism, and is also working to build a foundation for microbial catalysts that produce hydrogen.
*Illustrative imageDiversity and evolution of marine eukaryotic microbes
To understand how microalgae, the major primary producers of the ocean, acquired their photosynthetic abilities and pigments, the lab isolates new algae, analyzes the genomes of algae that have lost photosynthesis, and sequences the genomes of organelles such as chloroplasts.
MembersFaculty
The Marine Molecular Microbiology Lab consists of faculty members, a JSPS postdoctoral research fellow, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorTakashi Yoshida
- Associate ProfessorRyoma Kamikawa
VoicesStudent voices
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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: “XBio illustration – Bacteriophage (Phage)” explorebiology / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Marine ecosystems driven by viruses: “Phytoplankton Lake Chuzenji” ja:User:NEON / commons:User:NEON_ja / CC BY-SA 2.5 (cropped)
- Bacteria that use carbon monoxide: “Bacteria Colonizing a Streak Plate ( )” U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Northeast Region / Public domain (cropped)
- Diversity and evolution of marine eukaryotic microbes: “Панцирь диатомовой водоросли в электронном микроскопе” Gribkov / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (海洋環境微生物学分野): “CSIRO ScienceImage 2971 Collection of microalgae cultures” division, CSIRO / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (植物病理学分野): “Septoria-tritici” Maccheek / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab
(作物学分野): “Red Rice Paddy field in Japan 005” Flickr user gtknj / CC BY 2.0 (cropped) - Related lab (海洋生物増殖学分野): “Flounder that came to eat the feed in the fish farm (Ibaraki Prefecture Aquaculture Center)” 小石川人晃 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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