Shumaker, A., Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States; Putnam, H.M., Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, United States; Qiu, H., Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States; Price, D.C., Department of Plant Biology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States; Zelzion, E., Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States; Wagner, N.E., Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States; Gates, R.D., Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology, Kāneohe, HI 96744, United States; Yoon, H.S., Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, South Korea; Bhattacharya, D., Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States
Corals comprise a biomineralizing cnidarian, dinoflagellate algal symbionts, and associated microbiome of prokaryotes and viruses. Ongoing efforts to conserve coral reefs by identifying the major stress response pathways and thereby laying the foundation to select resistant genotypes rely on a robust genomic foundation. Here we generated and analyzed a high quality long-read based ~886 Mbp nuclear genome assembly and transcriptome data from the dominant rice coral, Montipora capitata from Hawai’i. Our work provides insights into the architecture of coral genomes and shows how they differ in size and gene inventory, putatively due to population size variation. We describe a recent example of foreign gene acquisition via a bacterial gene transfer agent and illustrate the major pathways of stress response that can be used to predict regulatory components of the transcriptional networks in M. capitata. These genomic resources provide insights into the adaptive potential of these sessile, long-lived species in both natural and human influenced environments and facilitate functional and population genomic studies aimed at Hawaiian reef restoration and conservation. © 2019, The Author(s).
Shumaker, A., Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States; Putnam, H.M., Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, United States; Qiu, H., Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States; Price, D.C., Department of Plant Biology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States; Zelzion, E., Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States; Wagner, N.E., Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States; Gates, R.D., Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology, Kāneohe, HI 96744, United States; Yoon, H.S., Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, South Korea; Bhattacharya, D., Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States
Corals comprise a biomineralizing cnidarian, dinoflagellate algal symbionts, and associated microbiome of prokaryotes and viruses. Ongoing efforts to conserve coral reefs by identifying the major stress response pathways and thereby laying the foundation to select resistant genotypes rely on a robust genomic foundation. Here we generated and analyzed a high quality long-read based ~886 Mbp nuclear genome assembly and transcriptome data from the dominant rice coral, Montipora capitata from Hawai’i. Our work provides insights into the architecture of coral genomes and shows how they differ in size and gene inventory, putatively due to population size variation. We describe a recent example of foreign gene acquisition via a bacterial gene transfer agent and illustrate the major pathways of stress response that can be used to predict regulatory components of the transcriptional networks in M. capitata. These genomic resources provide insights into the adaptive potential of these sessile, long-lived species in both natural and human influenced environments and facilitate functional and population genomic studies aimed at Hawaiian reef restoration and conservation. © 2019, The Author(s).