Research Updates

We’ve been working on a number of new research initiatives to bolster A. poculata as a highly tractable experimental system.

Experimental System Resources:

• Research publications:
  • https://sites.bu.edu/astrangia/temperate-coral-publications/
  • https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C22&q=astrangia+poculata&btnG=
  • https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C22&q=oculina+arbuscula&oq=oculina+a
• Astrangia genome
  • Cite: Stankiewicz, K.H., Guiglielmoni, N., Kitchen, S.A., Flot, J.F., Barott, K.L., Davies, S.W., Finnerty, J.R., Grace, S.P., Kaufman, L.S., Putnam, H.M. and Rotjan, R.D., 2025. Genomic comparison of the temperate coral Astrangia poculata with tropical corals yields insights into winter quiescence, innate immunity, and sexual reproduction. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, p.jkaf033. https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkaf033
• Astrangia microbiome
  • Cite: Sharp, K.H., Pratte, Z.A., Kerwin, A.H., Rotjan, R.D. and Stewart, F.J., 2017. Season, but not symbiont state, drives microbiome structure in the temperate coral Astrangia poculata. Microbiome, 5, pp.1-14.
• Protocol and programs for custom RGB color analysis with color standards, designed  and calculated with MATLAB R2007b.
  • Cite: Burmester, E., A. Breef-Pilz, N. Lawrence, L. Kaufman, J. Finnerty, and R.D. Rotjan. 2018. The impact of autotrophic versus heterotrophic nutritional pathways on colony health and wound recovery in corals. Ecology and Evolution 00:1-12. https://sites.bu.edu/rotjanlab/data-code/
• Oculina transcriptome assembly and annotation files: http://sites.bu.edu/davieslab/data-code/
  • Cite: Rivera, H.E. and Davies, S.W., 2021. Symbiosis maintenance in the facultative coral, Oculina arbuscula, relies on nitrogen cycling, cell cycle modulation, and immunity. Scientific Reports, 11(1), p.21226.

Definition of Key Terms:

Aposymbiotic = host living functionally without symbionts (white phenotype)

Mixed symbiosis = varying levels of symbiosis within polyps on a single colony (variable phenotype)

Symbiotic = largely symbiotic (brown phenotype)

Asymbiotic = zero symbionts (white phenotype) – note -this is rare / not yet been observed in the field, and should be reserved for the true case of zero symbionts, observed microscopically

For more information on these and other research initiative, please contact K. Sharp, R. Rotjan, and/or S. Grace.