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Microbiology Lab
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From a single spoonful of seawater, the lab explores how marine microbes are connected to the Earth's environment.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring the global environment from a spoonful of seawater
The Microbiology group studies the functions of marine microbes and the roles they play in sustaining the global environment.
Seawater is home to many invisible microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria, and protists.
The group investigates microbial diversity and its relationship with the environment, as well as microbial metabolism that supports material cycling, from both basic and applied perspectives.
Samples are collected from a wide range of seas in Japan and abroad, including both polar regions, through cruises on large research vessels and field surveys at marine laboratories.
Key terms
- Sea-surface microlayer
- The very thin uppermost layer of the ocean, at the boundary between the sea and the atmosphere. Various substances and bacteria tend to accumulate in it.
- Next-generation sequencer
- An instrument that can read DNA base sequences in large quantities and at high speed.
- Material cycles
- The movement of elements such as carbon and nitrogen among living organisms, the ocean, and the atmosphere, changing form along the way.
NewsLab news
Paper on Pacific microbial diversity published in Scientific Reports
Paper on the gut microbiota of pufferfish published in Animal Microbiome
A PhD student published a paper on nitrogen-fixing bacteria in Arctic sea-ice regions
Paper on nitrogen fixation in the Arctic Ocean published, based on joint research with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and other institutions
Lab visits are available at the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute's graduate admissions guidance session
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to clarify the physiological and ecological functions of marine microbes and the roles they play in maintaining the global environment. Its research focuses on the mechanisms behind microbial diversification, the relationship between diversity and the environment, and the metabolic functions that support material cycling and ecosystems.
*Illustrative imageLarge-scale analysis of marine microbial diversity
Using cruises of the research vessel Hakuho Maru and others, the lab collects seawater microbes from across the entire Pacific Ocean, reads their genes with next-generation sequencers, and analyzes diversity, community structure, and functional differences on a large scale.
*Illustrative imageMicrobes living at the boundary between the ocean and the atmosphere
The lab focuses on microbes living in the sea-surface microlayer, the very top layer of the ocean. It seeks to clarify how microbes that are ejected from there into the atmosphere influence cloud formation.
*Illustrative imageSymbiosis with other organisms, such as fish and their gut bacteria
The lab broadly explores symbiosis and interactions between marine organisms and microbes, such as the relationship between fish and their gut bacteria, and investigates their diversity and functions.
*Illustrative imageMicrobes of the Arctic and Southern Oceans
The lab studies the functions of microbes unique to the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean. It seeks to clarify how they differ from those in lower-latitude seas and what roles they play in material cycling.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Microbiology group consist of faculty members, project researchers, academic specialist staff, collaborative researchers, PhD and master's students, research trainees, and administrative assistants.As of 2026
- ProfessorKoji HamasakiPublications ↗
- Associate ProfessorTakuhei ShiozakiPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorMasahiko NishimuraPublications ↗
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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: “Hakuho Maru, Fremantle, 2019 (03)” Bahnfrend / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Large-scale analysis of marine microbial diversity: “Mise à l'eau d'une rosette de bouteilles Niskin et sonde CTD depuis le navire océanographique Thalassa” Phycoplankton / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Microbes living at the boundary between the ocean and the atmosphere: “181 Saint-Guénolé” Moreau.henri / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Symbiosis with other organisms, such as fish and their gut bacteria: “Takifugu rubripes Kaikyokan1” Totti / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Microbes of the Arctic and Southern Oceans: “North Pole, Arctic Ocean, sea ice 03” Matti&Keti, Lorenz King / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Plankton Lab): “Fish3511 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library” Matt Wilson/Jay Clark, NOAA NMFS AFSC / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Saito Lab): “Calanus finmarchicus” Leïla Brunner / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Aquatic Biology and Environment Lab): “Marine plankton - Dinoflagellat (Neoceratium horridum), diatom (Coscinodiscus radiatus) - 160x ( )” Picturepest / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Sakamoto Lab): “Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) ( )” Cliff from Arlington, Virginia, USA / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
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