Guoxin Cui

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology | KAUST · Department of Bioscience

Symbiotic associations with Symbiodiniaceae have evolved independently across a diverse range of cnidarian taxa including reef-building corals, sea anemones, and jellyfish, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying their regulation and repeated evolution are still elusive. Here, we show that despite their independent evolution, cnidarian hosts use th...

Symbiotic cnidarians such as corals and anemones form highly productive and biodiverse coral reef ecosystems in nutrient-poor ocean environments, a phenomenon known as Darwin's paradox. Resolving this paradox requires elucidating the molecular bases of efficient nutrient distribution and recycling in the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis. Using th...

Thermal priming of reef corals can enhance their heat tolerance, however, the legacy effects of heat stress during parental brooding on larval resilience remain understudied. This study investigated whether preconditioning adult coral Pocillopora damicornis to high temperatures (29°C and 32°C) could better prepare their larvae for heat stress. Resu...

Background The symbiotic relationship between cnidarians and dinoflagellates is one of the most widespread endosymbiosis in our oceans and provides the ecological basis of coral reef ecosystems. Although many studies have been undertaken to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying these symbioses, we still know little about the epigenetic mechan...

Symbiotic cnidarians such as corals and anemones form highly productive and biodiverse coral-reef ecosystems in nutrient-poor ocean environments, a phenomenon known as Darwin’s Paradox. Resolving this paradox requires elucidating the molecular bases of efficient nutrient distribution and recycling in the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis. Using th...

The metabolic capabilities of animals have been derived from well-studied model organisms and are generally considered to be well understood. In animals, cysteine is an important amino acid thought to be exclusively synthesized through the transsulfuration pathway. Corals of the genus Acropora have lost cystathionine β-synthase, a key enzyme of the...

In hermatypic scleractinian corals, photosynthetic fixation of CO 2 and the production of CaCO 3 are intimately linked due to their symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellates of the Symbiodiniaceae family. This makes it difficult to study ion transport mechanisms involved in the different pathways. In contrast, most ahermatypic scleractinian coral...

Rising ocean temperatures are increasing the rate and intensity of coral mass bleaching events, leading to the collapse of coral reef ecosystems. To better understand the dynamics of coral-algae symbioses, it is critical to decipher the role each partner plays in the holobiont’s thermotolerance. Here, we investigated the role of the symbiont by com...

Symbiotic associations with Symbiodiniaceae have evolved independently across a diverse range of cnidarian taxa including reef-building corals, anemones and jellyfish, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying their regulation and repeated evolution are still elusive. Here we show that despite their independent evolution, cnidarian hosts employ the s...

In the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis, hosts show altered expression of genes involved in growth and proliferation when in the symbiotic state, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms that underlie the host’s altered growth rate. Using tissue-specific transcriptomics, we determined how symbiosis affects expression of cell cycle-assoc...

Background The coral-Symbiodiniaceae symbiosis is fundamental for the coral reef ecosystem. Corals provide various inorganic nutrients to their algal symbionts in exchange for the photosynthates to meet their metabolic demands. When becoming symbionts, Symbiodiniaceae cells show a reduced proliferation rate and a different life history. While it is...

The symbiotic relationship between cnidarians and dinoflagellates is one of the most widespread endosymbiosis in our oceans and provides the ecological basis of coral-reef ecosystems. Although many studies have been undertaken to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying these symbioses, we still know little about the epigenetic mechanisms that c...

Ocean acidification (OA) has both detrimental as well as beneficial effects on marine life; it negatively affects calcifiers while enhancing the productivity of photosynthetic organisms. To date, many studies have focused on the impacts of OA on calcification in reef-building corals, a process particularly susceptible to acidification. However, lit...

Corals build the structural foundation of coral reefs, one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on our planet. While the process of coral calcification that allows corals to build these immense structures has been extensively investigated, we still know little about the evolutionary processes that allowed the soft-bodied ancestor of corals...

Plasma membrane (PM) depolarization functions as an initial step in plant defense signaling pathways. However, only a few ion channels/transporters have been characterized in the context of plant immunity. Here, we show that the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) Na+:K+:2Cl- (NKCC) cotransporter CCC1 has a dual function in plant immunity. CCC1 func...

Anchor roots (ANRs) arise at the root-shoot junction and are the least investigated type of Arabidopsis root. Here, we show that ANRs originate from pericycle cells in an auxin-dependent manner and a carotenogenic signal to emerge. By screening known and assumed carotenoid derivatives, we identified anchorene, a presumed carotenoid-derived dialdehy...

The metabolic symbiosis with photosynthetic algae allows corals to thrive in the oligotrophic environments of tropical seas. Different aspects of this relationship have been investigated using the emerging model organism Aiptasia. However, many fundamental questions, such as the nature of the symbiotic relationship and the interactions of nutrients...

Modern transformation and genome editing techniques have shown great success across a broad variety of organisms. However, no study of successfully applied genome editing has been reported in a dinoflagellate despite the first genetic transformation of Symbiodinium being published about 20 years ago. Using an array of different available transforma...

Growth curves of Symbiodinium microadriaticum under atrazine treatment. (XLSX)

Detailed list of transformations carried out, with information on transformation conditions and materials used. (XLSX)

Genomic sequence of putative β-tubulin A. Based on sequence from Smic.scaffold612 published in Aranda, Li [10]. (STR)

Vector sequence for plasmid pCR4 p35S-ChloR-NosT. (APE)

Vector sequence for plasmid p35S-GenR-eCFP-NosT. (APE)

Vector sequence for plasmids pYESChloR. (APE)

Genomic sequence of putative β-tubulin B. Based on sequence from Smic.scaffold51 published in Aranda, Li [10]. (STR)

Genomic sequence of putative Hsp90. Based on sequence from Smic.scaffold975 published in Aranda, Li [10]. (STR)

Vector sequence for plasmid pCR2.1 pAct-ChloR-ActT. (APE)

Vector sequence for plasmid pCR2.1 pPsbJ-ChloR. (APE)

Vector sequence for plasmid pPsbAS264GGEM. Atrazine resistance is predicted to be conferred by mutation of nucleotide 790 T->G and 791 C->G, causing a 264 Ser->Gly mutation. A silent mutation for identification purposes was also added to 795 T->C. (APE)

Raw OD600 absorbance values of S. cerevisiae cells growing under chloramphenicol and/or uracil depletion/enrichment. These values were used to make the graph shown in Fig 2. (XLSX)

Price of antibiotics from various major suppliers, taken on 30th of April 2017. (XLSX)

Expression of selected genes from transcriptomics analysis published in Chen, Cui [11]. (XLSX)

Vector sequence for plasmid pYESeGFP. (APE)

Vector sequence for plasmid pChlamy3-GenR-GAmCherry. (APE)

Raw cell count values of Symbiodinium cells growing under various antibiotic treatments as measured from using a FlowCAM. These values were used to make the graph shown in Fig 1. (XLSX)

Verification of pPsbJ 5’ UTR sequence via RACE. (PPTX)

Vector sequence for plasmid pCR2.1 pBtubA-ChloR. (STR)

Vector sequence for plasmid pCR2.1 pBtubB-ChloR. (STR)

Vector sequence for plasmid pCR2.1 pHsp90-ChloR-Hsp90T. (STR)

Vector sequence for plasmid pPsbAGEM. (APE)

Arabidopsis root development is predicted to be regulated by yet unidentified carotenoid-derived metabolite(s). In this work, we screened known and putative carotenoid cleavage products and identified anchorene, a predicted carotenoid-derived dialdehyde (diapocarotenoid) that triggers anchor root development. Anchor roots are the least characterize...

The symbiotic relationship between cnidarians and dinoflagellates is the cornerstone of coral reef ecosystems. Although research has focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying this symbiosis, the role of epigenetic mechanisms, that is, the study of heritable changes that do not involve changes in the DNA sequence, is unknown. To assess the role...

There are increasing concerns that the current rate of climate change might outpace the ability of reef-building corals to adapt to future conditions. Work on model systems has shown that environmentally induced alterations in DNA methylation can lead to phenotypic acclimatization. While DNA methylation has been reported in corals and is thought to...

Corals and their endosymbiotic dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium have a fragile relationship that breaks down under heat stress, an event known as bleaching. However, many coral species have adapted to high temperature environments such as the Red Sea (RS). To investigate mechanisms underlying temperature adaptation in zooxanthellate cnidar...

Modern transformation and genome editing techniques have shown great success across a broad variety of organisms. However, no study of successfully applied genome editing has been reported in a dinoflagellate despite the first genetic transformation of Symbiodinium being published about 20 years ago. Using an array of different available transforma...

The metabolic symbiosis with photosynthetic algae of the genus Symbiodinium allows corals to thrive in the oligotrophic environments of tropical seas. Many aspects of this relationship have been investigated using transcriptomic analyses in the emerging model organism Aiptasia . However, previous studies identified thousands of putatively symbiosis...

The symbiotic relationship between cnidarians and dinoflagellates is the cornerstone of coral reef ecosystems. Although research is focusing on the molecular mechanisms underlying this symbiosis, the role of epigenetic mechanisms, which have been implicated in transcriptional regulation and acclimation to environmental change, is unknown. To assess...

Rising sea surface temperature is the main cause of global coral reef decline. Abnormally high temperatures trigger the breakdown of the symbiotic association between corals and their photosynthetic symbionts in the genus Symbiodinium. Higher genetic variation resulting from shorter generation times has previously been proposed to provide increased...

Over the last century, the anthropogenic production of CO 2 has led to warmer (+0.74 °C) and more acidic (-0.1 pH) oceans ¹ , resulting in increasingly frequent and severe mass bleaching events worldwide that precipitate global coral reef decline ² , ³ . To mitigate this decline, proposals to augment the stress tolerance of corals through genetic a...

This paper reviews light respose elements (LREs) of plant gene, including G-box, GT element and so on. We also describe binding proteins of these LREs from the point of view of their types, structural features and latest advancement.

The roots of 'Tsuda' turnip (Brassica rapa) and 'Yurugi Akamaru' turnip were irradiated with UV-A light for 24 h. Total RNAs were isolated and then BrF3′H1 and BrF3′H2 genes were cloned by RT-PCR method. The open reading frame (ORF) of BrF3′H1 and BrF3′H2 genes contained 1 536 bp encoding proteins of 511 amino acids. Amino acid sequence analysis sh...

The roots of 'Tsuda' turnip and 'Yurugi Akamaru' turnip (Brassica rapa) were irradiated with UV-A light for 24 h, then the total RNA was isolated and BrPAL1 and BrPAL2 genes were cloned by RT-PCR method. The BrPAL1 and BrPAL2 genes included an open reading frame (ORF) of 2169 bp and encoded a protein of 722 amino acid. Amino acid sequence analysis...

Anthocyanin is a class of important secondary metabolites in plants. UDP-glucose:flavonoid 3-O-glucosyltransferase (UF3GT) is a committed catalytic enzyme in the late stage of anthocyanin biosynthesis. BrUF3GT1 and BrUF3GT2 genes were cloned by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method from 'Tsuda' and 'Yurugi Akamaru' turnips...