Despite a relatively stable microbiome, we reveal that microbial co-occurrence networks shift between daytime carbohydrate catabolism and nighttime methylotrophy, indicating metabolic hand-offs across domains of life within the holobiont. #SymbioSky #ProtistsOnSky
To help reduce the annotation gap of functional assignment in non-model organisms like corals, we supplemented our host gene ontology enrichment terms using protT5 protein language model to predict functions for poorly annotated proteins, adding more context beyond standard homology-based pipelines.
We uncover transcriptional rhythms in the coral, including dawn initiated RNA biosynthesis, midday & dusk regulation of phosphate metabolism, and midnight activation of stress and repair pathways. Breviolum sp. displays tightly regulated cell cycle dynamics and nutrient transport oscillations.
🚨New Pub Alert🚨 We present a system-level molecular framework of natural diel regulation in the stony coral P. strigosa, integrating host & symbiodiniaceae transcriptomics with microbiome dynamics over 6hr intervals. Amazing to publish this PhD work @miamirosenstiel.bsky.social 👉 shorturl.at/TzYEr
Happy to have contributed to the #protists section of this @ergabiodiv.bsky.social whitepaper 👉 From Permits to Samples: Addressing Key Challenges for High-Quality Reference Genome Generation in Europe onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
GBE | The Chromosome-Scale Genome Assembly of the Redlip Blenny, Ophioblennius macclurei (Blenniidae) The article by Kulikov et al. presents the chromosome-scale genome of the red lip blenny (Ophioblennius macclurei). This resource could help better understand the cryptic diversity and species boundaries within the genus. Photo by: Evan D’Alessandro.
Kulikov, @ikeririsarri.bsky.social @fonamental.bsky.social et al present a 529.6 Mb chromosome-scale genome for the redlip blenny (scaffold N50 = 23.7 Mb; BUSCO = 97.06%). Annotation identified 18,927 protein-coding genes.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf242
📸 Evan D’Alessandro
#genome #evolution
Interested in a PhD at @icmcsic.bsky.social with me & @fonamental.bsky.social? We’re seeking motivated candidates for an #INPhINIT incoming fellowship to study mesophotic coral ecosystems as thermal refuges & holobiont responses across depth gradients. Info: fundacionlacaixa.org/ca/beques-do...
🔬 What is sciencewashing?
At the PRBB Sustainability Seminar, Javier del Campo warns about the misuse of science to gain prestige or profit and highlights the social power of the scientific community.
More: tuit.cat/uvQp2
A new combtooth blenny genome just dropped! Assembled from recycled ONT data + HiC + RNAseq.
Thanks, Nikita Kulikov, Kim Joffroy, @ambonacolta.bsky.social @delcampolab.bsky.social for your hard work
Unlock the power of #Metabarcoding in #MicrobialEcology!
Join our online course, with Anna Luigi and @delcampolab.bsky.social in March
@qiime2.org #Rstats
www.physalia-courses.org/courses-work...
Today at the @iec.cat , @matteoagazzi.bsky.social gave an update on our coral reference genomes project🪸, part or the @catbiogenoma.bsky.social. It was great to see what everyone is working on within the @catbiogenoma.bsky.social effort! #corals #genomes
.@rociomozo.bsky.social is officially a PhD student in our lab! Her thesis project will explore the evolutionary history of Suessiales and the origin of symbiosis in the group🦠 Welcome!!🥳 #protists #corals #symbiosis #protistsonsky
Thank you everyone for a great congress!🦠🌊😊 @same18-bcn.bsky.social
. @joanakrause.bsky.social gave a presentation on her project “Describing the diversity and global distribution of plastid-bearing coral symbionts re-using published microbiome data”
. @rociomozo.bsky.social presented a poster on “Phylogenomics of Coral Photosymbionts and their Free-Living Relatives” (her Master’s project)
We had a great time last week at @same18-bcn.bsky.social in Barcelona!
Your students arrive in Curaçao earlier than you and say: We are bored. Can we do that extra diel cycle sampling that we talked about 🤔 ?
Your only answer as a PI: Sure 😬
The outcome? Sleep-deprived students and an excellent work on the #coral holobiont rhythmicity 🪸🦠⏰
#symbiosis #microbiome
This effort was a 'tour de force' only made possible by my incredible lab @ambonacolta.bsky.social and @fonamental.bsky.social. Absolutely thrilled to get this part of my Ph.D. dissertation out, thank you everyone involved!
Lastly, we explored microbiome structure 🦠 through time. Broadly, the microbial composition is largely stable through time, with notable taxon-specific changes through day/night light cycles. During the day carbohydrate catabolizers show enrichment, while night hours feature methylotrophs.
Similar to the host, the symbiont Breviolum showed diel regulated transcription, although more subtle. Time-specific functions were recovered, showing metabolite transfer and nitrogen/carbohydrate metabolism through daytime, while cellular division and reorganization/turnover during the dark hours.
In the coral host, we observed dawn as a molecular surge in RNA metabolism 🧬, midday exhibits high phosphate regulation 🔋, dusk reflects lipid & amino acid metabolism ♻️, and midnight shows mRNA catabolism & mitochondrial reorganization 🗂️. Most striking, we recovered ~30% transcripts as rhythmic.
🚨New Preprint Alert🚨 P. strigosa, a reef-building coral shows tightly regulated transcriptional control over natural diel cycles. #CoralReefs #Symbiosky #bioinformatics #marinemicrobes #protistsonsky www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Huge thanks to this amazing team! @fonamental.bsky.social @polcapdevila.bsky.social @elpiratavell.bsky.social @medrecover.bsky.social over.bsky.social @icmcsic.bsky.social @szndohrn.bsky.social @ub.edu @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social
#MedCalRes @ageinves.bsky.social @cienciagob.bsky.social
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Bryozoans are key habitat-formers, yet often overlooked in climate research.
Our work shows they’re at risk under future ocean conditions.
🌊 We need more long-term, multi-stressor studies in natural settings. Stay tuned for the ongoing HOLOCHANGE and MedAcidWarm projects!
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This is the first study to document long-term microbiome and skeletal responses to combined ocean acidification & warming in bryozoans in the wild.
We reveal:
✅ Complex, species-specific strategies
⚠️ Signs of vulnerability under future ocean conditions
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What about long-term effects?
We monitored Pentapora populations over 5 years:
📉 Bryozoan cover declined
☠️ Necrosis increased
🌡️ Warming & acidification together accelerated mortality
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But not all are good news...
We also observed:
📉 Loss of key microbial genera
☠️Rise of opportunists & anaerobes
These microbial shifts may signal early dysbiosis — an early warning of declining host health.
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🦠 Microbial communities:
We found species-specific core microbiomes, conserved across both pH conditions.
This stability suggests potential acclimatization capacity in both species despite environmental stress.
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🧱 Mineral & skeletal structure:
The two species showed opposing strategies to low pH.
🦪 P. ottomuelleriana reduced Mg-calcite & zooid volume
🪸 M. truncata thickened its skeleton
→ Different energy trade-offs to maintain calcification under stress
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We focused on two species:
🦪 Pentapora ottomuelleriana (fast-growing, encrusting)
🪸 Myriapora truncata (slow-growing, erect)
They naturally occur inside & outside a Mediterranean CO₂ vent. 🌋
We also used 3D micro-CT scans to visualize how their skeletons change.
