Coral reefs are vital ecosystems that provide habitat for 25% of marine species, offering coastline protection from erosion and storms, and generating billions of dollars in fisheries and tourism revenue. The health and diversity of coral reefs depend on their symbiotic relationship with Symbiodiniaceae algae. This crucial coral-algae symbiosis is threatened by deteriorating environmental conditions, particularly ocean warming, which leads to coral bleaching—corals expel symbiotic algae and turn white. We aim to understand and modulate microbe-animal symbiosis using engineered microbes.
Related Publications
- Gao B, Ruiz D, Hayden C, Sun Q*, Engineering Bacterial Warriors: Harnessing Microbes to Modulate Host Physiology in multicellular organisms, Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2024, 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103113.
- Feng M, Gao B, Garcia R, Sun Q*, Microbiota-derived metabolites in regulating the development and physiology of Caenorhabditis elegans. Front Microbiol. 2023;14. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1035582
- Sun Q, Vega NM, Cervantes B, et al. Enhancing nutritional niche and host defenses by modifying the gut microbiome. Mol Syst Biol. 2022;18(11). doi:10.15252/msb.20209933
Qing Sun Lab 