My Research
Molecular Maps
Increasingly, corals are being out-competed by other organisms due to the stressors they face as a result of climate change. Being able to characterize their interactions with other organisms could help us determine factors affecting health. By studying the microbes that live in and around the coral across 3D space, our goal was to characterize the colony and its interactions with other species, including hydrozoans, turf algae, and other corals. Using a multi-omic approach, we created 3D models of the coral colonies to demonstrate differences in microbial abundance, metabolites, and transcripts between the colony and the interface.
Cryptic Corallines
Coralline algae are calcified red algae that play many important ecological roles like providing structure for coral reefs and giving invertebrate larvae a place to settle. Even though we know that many species of corallines play different roles in marine ecosystems, they are often difficult to identify because they are cryptic species. I used morphometrics to help scientists to differentiate two cryptic coralline species. I also helped to characterize a species that was initially collected by Charles Darwin and misidentified as a subspecies due to its cryptic morphology. This paper is in review, but you can still check out Soren Huber’s graduate thesis with some of the data.
Corallicolid Consequences
Anthozoan microbiomes can have large impacts on their health, so it is critical that we learn more about how corals interact with their symbionts. In 2019 new anthozoan symbionts, called corallicolids, were discovered. They were identified as members of the phylum Apicomplexa, which is a largely parasitic group that includes the causative agents of malaria and toxoplasmosis. However, little is known about the impact of corallicolids on their hosts. My master’s thesis project involved developing a host genetic resource for the study of corallicolids.
Anemone Apicomplexans
Corallicolids are found in several types of anthozoans, including zoanthids, corals, and anemones. I have been helping survey temperate sea anemones for the presence of corallicolids by performing dissections and sequencing their tissue.
Marine Midge Microbiomes
Although insects are incredibly widespread few have managed to invade marine habitats, with the ones that have generally living close to the surface. That is why it was such a surprise when researchers from the Keeling lab discovered marine midge larvae more than 100 feet below the surface. My Honours thesis focused on determining whether these midges derive their microbiome from the environment or inherit it from their terrestrial ancestors. I found that the midges shared some broad similarities with terrestrial insects, but tended to derive their microbiome from their environment and were found to harbour organisms observed in other marine invertebrates. The midges live in filamentous algal mats but they appear to be preferentially eating diatoms and may contain eukaryotic parasites.
