Innovative microfossil (radiolarian) analysis using a system for automated image collection and AI-based classification of species.

Microfossils are a powerful tool in earth sciences, and they have been widely used for the determination of geological age and in paleoenvironmental studies. However, the identification of fossil species requires considerable time and labor by experts with extensive knowledge and experience. In this study, we successfully automated the acquisition of microfossil data using an artificial intelligence system that employs a computer-controlled microscope and deep learning methods.

Distribution of palytoxin in coral reef organisms living in close proximity to an aggregation of Palythoa tuberculosa.

Palytoxin is a strong marine toxin that was first isolated from the zoantharian Palythoa toxica and later from other species of the genus Palythoa. How the toxin gets into the animal remains an unsolved question. To study the specificity of palytoxin distribution, the toxin content of Palythoa tuberculosa and other organisms living in close association on a coral reef in Okinawa were analysed by mass spectrometry.

Phylogeography of ostreopsis along west Pacific coast, with special reference to a novel clade from Japan.

Background: A dinoflagellate genus Ostreopsis is known as a potential producer of Palytoxin derivatives. Palytoxin is the most potent non-proteinaceous compound reported so far. There has been a growing number of reports on palytoxin-like poisonings in southern areas of Japan; however, the distribution of Ostreopsis has not been investigated so far.

The decline and fate of an iron-induced subarctic phytoplankton bloom.

Iron supply has a key role in stimulating phytoplankton blooms in high-nitrate low-chlorophyll oceanic waters. However, the fate of the carbon fixed by these blooms, and how efficiently it is exported into the ocean's interior, remains largely unknown. Here we report on the decline and fate of an iron-stimulated diatom bloom in the Gulf of Alaska.