Funakoshi Station / Environment Science

It is the cultured, most suitable environment of the fishery products which the Uwa Sea receiving the Ehime Nannyo area has the complicated topography having a Rias coast, and the depth of the water is deep, and have the inflow of the tide from the Kuroshio Current.

Furthermore, the clean sea bringing up coral is scenic and is appointed in the underwater park of Ashizuri-Uwakai National Park.

We push forward a research to use it for the marine products industry continuously while following this splendid environment in the environment life science  section.

Facilities & Equipment


Facilities

Our station is located in a renovated room on the 2nd and 3rd floor of the former Nishiumi Town Hall, and is used as a laboratory and testing room. We use equipment such as cell sorters, lipid extractors, and genetic analyzers to conduct advanced research.

A separate building houses the breeding building, which is used for research on octopus breeding.

Darkroom
Darkroom
Biochemistry Laboratory
Biochemistry Laboratory
Instrumental Analysis Room
Instrumental Analysis Room
Water tank in the breeding building
Water tank in the breeding building

Equipment

Cell sorter

MoFlo Astrios EQ
MoFlo Astrios EQ

The machine allows you to select purity in one direction and yield in the other, allowing you to simultaneously recover virtually all of the target cells that would be lost to achieve that high purity. This allows for faster sorting without the loss of highly valuable cells and without sacrificing the purity of key preparations. (Excerpt from official page)

Lipid extraction machine

ST 243 Soxtec
ST 243 Soxtec

This machine is used to measure the crude fat content in fish muscle using diethyl ether.

The amount of fat is an important factor in determining the taste.

Genetic analyzer

SeqStudio Genetic Analyzer
SeqStudio Genetic Analyzer

This machine is used for DNA sequencing and fragment length analysis, and is mainly used at our center for DNA parent-child analysis of suma using microsatellite DNA.

The capillary and polymer are integrated into a cartridge, which greatly reduces hands-on time and human error compared to conventional machines, and helps to improve the efficiency of large-scale analysis.


Scanning Electron Microscope

JSM-6510LV
JSM-6510LV

Tissues of various shapes and materials can be observed, and even soft matter can be observed by attaching a variety of options.

In addition, the motorized stage and stage navigation system make it easy to find the field of view.

Real-time PCR system

BioRad CFX96 RealTime System
BioRad CFX96 RealTime System

This is a device that amplifies specific genes of organisms and measures the amount of genes using fluorescent dyes, and is mainly used at our center to measure the genes of harmful red tide plankton and fish disease pathogens.

Since multiple fluorescence wavelengths can be detected simultaneously, efficient analysis is possible.

Nucleic acid extraction equipment

QIAcube
QIAcube

It is a device for extracting nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA from living organisms, and can automatically extract 12 samples at one time.


Research Topics


Coast environmental research and study of the area of the sea information system

Aerial view of the sea
Aerial view of the sea
  • Research on coastal environment
  • Advancement of the area of the sea information system and study on red tide, fish disease measures

Discharge of the DNA analysis technique, application to cultivate and elucidation of the breeding style

Anemone fish and sea anemones
Anemone fish and sea anemones
  • Research on chase of the discharge creature, grasp of the discharge effect and management
  • Development of an estimate and the exclusion method of the outbreak factor of the abnormal seed and sapling in the culture
  • Research on selection and management of the breeding system
  • Research on management of the genetic diversity of the wild fish

 


Cooperation with the local instructional activity

Big catch flag of Gyoshoku
Big catch flag of Gyoshoku
  • Utilization of the picture book of "Ehime & Ainan's fish"
  • Examination of the utilization as the teaching materials of the aquatic