A KAUST-led team mapped the genome of the orange clownfish using the university's Supercomputing and Bioscience Core Labs. The genome contains 26,597 protein-coding genes and is available via the Nemo Genome DB database. The clownfish genome is one of the most complete fish genomes ever produced, comprising approximately 939 million nucleotides. Why it matters: This genomic map provides a crucial resource for understanding reef fish biology and responses to environmental changes like climate change.
A KAUST-led study tracked clownfish and anemones in the Red Sea from 2022-2024, finding that extreme heat caused anemone bleaching, followed by near-total clownfish death, and then anemone death. The heatwave saw accumulated thermal stress reach 22 degrees heating weeks, far exceeding the threshold for coral bleaching. The research highlights heat risks faced by non-coral reef organisms and the need for taxon-specific thresholds to predict risks to reef symbiotic relationships. Why it matters: The Red Sea is a bellwether for climate change impacts on marine ecosystems, and this study underscores the urgency of conservation efforts like KAUST's Coral Restoration Initiative.
Janet Kelso from the Max Planck Institute and Sudhir Kumar from Temple University discussed evolutionary biology in a KAUST Facebook Live interview. Kelso's research focuses on interactions between modern humans and Neanderthals, finding similarities in DNA and benefits for environmental adaptation. Kumar's work, highly cited, involves big data analyses in evolutionary biology. Why it matters: The interview highlights KAUST's engagement with international experts in bioinformatics and evolutionary biology, promoting interdisciplinary research and knowledge dissemination.
A KAUST-led research team has observed intergenerational epigenetic inheritance in corals, demonstrating that corals pass patterns of DNA to their offspring. The research, published in Nature Climate Change, shows that corals can adapt to environmental changes and pass those traits on through DNA methylation patterns. This is the first time this process has been observed in animals, previously only seen in plants. Why it matters: This finding could enable biologists to train corals in nurseries to produce offspring better equipped to survive changing marine environments, aiding coral reef restoration efforts.
A KAUST team developed piRNAi, a gene-silencing tool in nematode worms using synthetic RNA sequences interacting with the piRNA pathway. They successfully silenced genes involved in sex determination and other functions, demonstrating multiplexed gene silencing. The gene silencing lasted for varying durations across generations, up to six generations. Why it matters: This expands the molecular toolkit for gene manipulation and offers potential therapeutic applications in humans, given the presence of the same gene-silencing pathway.