13th IMBC Postponed to 2025

Given ongoing concerns about travel restrictions related to coronavirus and the rescheduling of other conferences, the board of the International Marine Biotechnology Association has decided to postpone the conference originally scheduled for 2022. We anticipate that the 13th International Marine Biotechnology Conference will take place Monday 7th to Friday 11th July, 2025. It will be in Brest, France as originally planned.

To stay connected between conferences, we plan to host several virtual mini-symposia. These will be coordinated by members of the IMBA board, covering a diverse set of marine biotechnology topics. If you have an idea for a symposium or would like to present an online talk, please send an email to imetdirectorsoffice@umces.edu.

To be the first to get updates about the 13th IMBC and the virtual mini-symposia, become an IMBA member.

MBC2019-Special Issue Articles Available Online

View the MBC2019-Special Issue of Marine Biotechnology

1.   MBC2019: Marine Biotechnology Conference 2019

Haruko Takeyama, Hiroshi Saito & Yohei Nishikawa

Mar Biotechnol (2020).  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-020-09958-3

Mar Biotechnol 22, 725-726 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-020-10009-0

Published: 26 November 2020

2.   Responses of Intertidal Bacterial Biofilm Communities to Increasing pCO2.

Dorsaf Kerfahi, Ben P. Harvey, Sylvain Agostini, Koetsu Kon, Ruiping Huang, Jonathan M. Adams & Jason M. Hall-Spencer

Mar Biotechnol (2020).  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-020-09958-3

Received: 02 October 2019/Accepted: 21 February 2020/Published: 17 March 2020

Keywords: Bacteria, Biodiversity, Ocean acidification, Rocky shore ecology

3.   Identification of the Domains Involved in Promotion of Silica Formation in Glassin, a Protein Occluded in Hexactinellid Sponge Biosilica, for Development of a Tag for Purification and Immobilization of Recombinant Proteins.

Michika Nishi, Hiroki Kobayashi, Taro Amano, Yuto Sakate, Tomohiro Bito, Jiro Arima & Katsuhiko Shimizu

Mar Biotechnol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-020-09967-2

Received: 03 February 2020/Accepted: 26 March 2020/Published: 14 April 2020

Keywords: Biosilica, Porifera, Immobilization, Protein purification, Histidine, Metal affinity

4.   Transcriptome Analyses of Immune System Behaviors in Primary Polyp of Coral Acropora digitifera Exposed to the Bacterial Pathogen Vibrio coralliilyticus under Thermal Loading

Toshiyuki Takagi, Yuki Yoshioka, Yuna Zayasu, Noriyuki Satoh & Chuya Shinzato

Mar Biotechnol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-020-09984-1

Received: 02 April 2020/Accepted: 06 July 2020/Published: 21 July 2020

Keywords: Coral, Vibrio coralliilyticus, Thermal stress, Innate immunity, Transcriptome analysis,

Immunosuppression

5.   Genomic and Transcriptomic Analyses of Bioluminescence Genes in the Enope Squid Watasenia scintillans

Masa-aki Yoshida, Junichi Imoto, Yuri Kawai, Satomi Funahashi, Ryuhei Minei, Yuki Akizuki, Atsushi Ogura, Kazuhiko Nakabayashi, Kei Yura & Kazuho Ikeo

Mar Biotechnol 22, 760-771 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-020-10001-8

Received: 08 April 2020/Accepted: 28 September 2020/Published: 24 October 2020

Keywords: Firefly squid, Cephalopod, RNA editing, 3D modelling, Repetitive elements

6.   Identification of Functional SSR Markers in Freshwater Ornamental Shrimps Neocaridina denticulata Using Transcriptome Sequencing

Chang-Wen Huang, Pei-Yun Chu, Yu-Fang Wu, Wei-Ren Chan & Yeh-Hao Wang

Mar Biotechnol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-020-09979-y

Received: 03 January 2020/Accepted: 18 May 2020/Published: 11 June 2020

Keywords: Freshwater ornamental shrimp, Identification, Color traits, DNA molecular markers

7.   Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L., 1758) Gut Microbiota Profile Correlates with Flesh Pigmentation: Cause or Effect?

Chan D. H. Nguyen, Gianluca Amoroso, Tomer Ventura, Jeremiah J. Minich & Abigail Elizur

Mar Biotechnol (2020).  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-019-09939-1

Received: 20 September 2019/Accepted: 22 December 2019/Published: 15 January 2020

Keywords: Atlantic salmon, Microbiota, Flesh color, Pigmentation, Carotenoids

8.   Taxonomic Distribution of Tetrodotoxin in Acotylean Flatworms (Polycladida: Platyhelminthes). 

Maho Kashitani, Taiki Okabe, Hikaru Oyama, Kaede Noguchi, Haruka Yamazaki, Rei Suo, Tetsushi Mori, Haruo Sugita & Shiro Itoi

Mar Biotechnol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-020-09968-1

Received: 29 December 2019/Accepted: 30 March 2020/Published: 15 May 2020

Keywords: Acotylea, Flatworm, Planocera, Polycladida, 28S rRNA, Tetrodotoxin (TTX)

9.   Genetic and Morphological Characteristics in the Local Population of the Landlocked Salmon Oncorhynchus masou Originally Distributed in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Taiki Okabe, Naoyuki Suguro, Tomoko Koito, Kento Endo, Haruo Sugita & Shiro Itoi

Mar Biotechnol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-020-09975-2

Received: 30 December 2019/Accepted: 29 April 2020/Published: 03 June 2020

Keywords: Distribution boundary, Indigenous population, Mitochondrial DNA, Oncorhynchus masou, Salmonid fish

10.   Characterization of Macroscopic Colony-Forming Filamentous Cyanobacteria from Okinawan Coasts as Potential Sources of Bioactive Compounds

Handung Nuryadi, Shimpei Sumimoto, Toshiaki Teruya, Kiyotake Suenaga & Shoichiro Suda

Mar Biotechnol 22, 824-835 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-020-10010-7

Received: 27 March 2020/Accepted: 12 November 2020/Published: 26 November 2020

Keywords: Marine macroscopic colony-forming filamentous (MMCFF) cyanobacteria, Morphological characterization, 16S rRNA phylogeny, Cytotoxic activity

11. Comparison of Areal Productivity of Nannochloropsis oceanica Between Lab-Scale and Industrial-Scale Raceway Pond. [Short Communication]

Takeshi Saito, Takahiro Ichihara, Hidetoshi Inoue, Takafumi Uematsu, Saki Hamada, Takaaki Watanabe, Yasushi Takimura & Jason Webb

Mar Biotechnol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-020-09990-3

Received: 30 December 2019/Accepted: 19 August 2020/Published: 28 August 2020

Keywords: Microalgae production, Nannochloropsis, Open raceway pond, Sequential batch culture

Marine Biotechnology Training Course

This advanced training course aims at contributing to the creation of ‘blue skills’, filling knowledge gaps while matching market opportunities via a joint effort among the scientific community, research infrastructures and business operators. Apply by December 21!

This is a shared initiative between ERANET BlueMed and ERANET BlueBio and was shared with us by IMBA member Dr. Renata Denaro.

Learn more and apply

IMBA Board Membership Changes

At the 2019 IMBC, Professor Song Qin officially became the IMBA President. Professor Haruko Takeyama was elected Vice President and will assume the presidency at the next IMBC. For a full list of board members and their positions, please see our IMBA Board webpage.

Dr. Song Qin elected next IMBA President

Dr. Song Qin, Chinese Academy of Science, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, has been elected to serve as the next President of IMBA. Dr. Qin, who has served on the Board of IMBA for many years, will take over the presidency at IMBC 2019 in Tokyo, Japan.

European Marine Board releases Policy Brief on Marine Biotechnology

The European Marine Board (EMB) has released its latest Policy Brief on Marine Biotechnology: Advancing Innovation in Europe's Bioeconomy, which has been developed in collaboration with the Marine Biotechnology ERA-NET (ERA-MBT). 

The Policy Brief presents the latest advancements, opportunities and challenges of marine biotechnology, as a fast growing Blue Growth area with diversified applications to human health and well being. 

It also summarizes key thematic areas from the ERA-MBT Marine Biotechnology Strategic and Innovation Roadmap: Insights to the future direction of European marine biotechnology, published in 2016.