Introduction

Our lab investigates the origins of marine biodiversity through evolutionary genomics. We combine single-cell transcriptomics, high-throughput sequencing, and advanced imaging to establish non-model marine invertebrates as model systems for decoding the evolution of animal development and photosymbiosis.

Research Directions

• Stony corals: evolution of novelty and photosymbiosis

• Symbiotic acoels: cell type evolution and photosymbiosis

• Animal genomes: structural evolution and gene regulation

研究介紹

我們特別感興趣的研究主題為海洋無脊椎動物與微生物共生關係的基因調控與演化。利用高通量定序、單細胞轉錄體、與顯微影像技術，我們建立珊瑚與無腔蟲作為共生的模式物種並與其他共生生物 (如綠水螅、海葵、海蛞蝓、硨磲貝等) 做演化發育生物學的比較研究，藉此探索共生生物多樣性與演化起源。

研究主題

• 石珊瑚新穎性演化與光合共生

• 共生無腔蟲細胞類型演化與光合共生

• 動物基因體的結構演化與基因調控

Banner image: Galaxea coral polyp by Yi-Ling Chiu