Research Summary
Focuses on the evolutionary ecology of mutualistic symbioses, mainly coral-dinoflagellate associations. Examines ecological, biogeographic, and phylogenetic patterns in order to deduce fundamental ecological and evolutionary processes involving microbial eukaryotes. Part of this research seeks to understand how coral communities globally are responding to climate warming.
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Recent Publications
Morphological and genetic characterization of Stylophora madagascarensis, Pocillopora acuta, and Pocillopora verrucosa in Mauritius and their thermal photophysiological stress responses
Jeetun, S., Ricot, M., Jogee, S. Y., Kaullysing, D., Taleb-Hossenkhan, N., LaJeunesse, T. C., Philippart, G., Collard, O., Flot, J. F., Wijayanti, D. P., Yucharoen, M., Nascimento, B., Suzuki, Y., Casareto, B. E. & Bhagooli, R., Jan 2025, In: Bulletin of Marine Science. 101, 1, p. 247-269 23 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Limited persistence of the heat-tolerant zooxanthella, Durusdinium trenchii, in corals transplanted to a barrier reef where it is rare among natal colonies
Turnham, K. E., Lewis, A. M., Kemp, D. W., Warner, M. E., Wham, D. F., Smith, R. T., Hoadley, K., Colin, P. L., Golbuu, Y. & LaJeunesse, T. C., Apr 2025, In: Coral Reefs. 44, 2, p. 555-570 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Influence of reef habitat on coral microbial associations
Gantt, S. E., Kemp, K. M., Colin, P. L., Hoadley, K. D., LaJeunesse, T. C., Warner, M. E. & Kemp, D. W., Dec 2024, In: Environmental Microbiology Reports. 16, 6, e70051.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The genome of a giant clam zooxanthella (Cladocopium infistulum) offers few clues to adaptation as an extracellular symbiont with high thermotolerance
González-Pech, R. A., Shepherd, J., Fuller, Z. L., LaJeunesse, T. C. & Parkinson, J. E., Dec 2024, In: BMC genomics. 25, 1, 914.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The diversity, distribution, and temporal stability of coral ‘zooxanthellae’ on a pacific reef: from the scale of individual colonies to across the host community
Lewis, A. M., Butler, C. C., Turnham, K. E., Wham, D. F., Hoadley, K. D., Smith, R. T., Kemp, D. W., Warner, M. E. & LaJeunesse, T. C., Aug 2024, In: Coral Reefs. 43, 4, p. 841-856 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Host–symbiont plasticity in the upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea xamachana: strobilation across symbiont genera
Sharp, V., Kerwin, A. H., Mammone, M., Avila-Magana, V., Turnham, K., Ohdera, A., LaJeunesse, T. & Medina, M., 2024, In: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 12, 1333028.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Formal recognition of host-generalist species of dinoflagellate (Cladocopium, Symbiodiniaceae) mutualistic with Indo-Pacific reef corals
Butler, C. C., Turnham, K. E., Lewis, A. M., Nitschke, M. R., Warner, M. E., Kemp, D. W., Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Fitt, W. K., van Oppen, M. J. H. & LaJeunesse, T. C., Aug 2023, In: Journal of Phycology. 59, 4, p. 698-711 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Building consensus around the assessment and interpretation of Symbiodiniaceae diversity
Davies, S. W., Gamache, M. H., Howe-Kerr, L. I., Kriefall, N. G., Baker, A. C., Banaszak, A. T., Bay, L. K., Bellantuono, A. J., Bhattacharya, D., Chan, C. X., Claar, D. C., Coffroth, M. A., Cunning, R., Davy, S. K., del Campo, J., Díaz-Almeyda, E. M., Frommlet, J. C., Fuess, L. E., González-Pech, R. A. & Goulet, T. L. & 41 others, , May 2 2023, In: PeerJ. 11, e15023.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Similarities in biomass and energy reserves among coral colonies from contrasting reef environments
Keister, E. F., Gantt, S. E., Reich, H. G., Turnham, K. E., Bateman, T. G., LaJeunesse, T. C., Warner, M. E. & Kemp, D. W., Dec 2023, In: Scientific reports. 13, 1, 1355.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Thermotolerant coral-algal mutualisms maintain high rates of nutrient transfer while exposed to heat stress
Kemp, D. W., Hoadley, K. D., Lewis, A. M., Wham, D. C., Smith, R. T., Warner, M. E. & Lajeunesse, T. C., Sep 20 2023, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 290, 2007, 20231403.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Scott Ross Santos (1972–2024): A Force of Good in the Exploration of Ecology and Evolution
Lajeunesse, T. C., Thornhill, D., Havird, J. C., Halanych, K. M. & Coffroth, M. A., Dec 2023, In: Biological Bulletin. 245, 3, p. 117-119 3 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review
Acclimatization of a coral-dinoflagellate mutualism at a CO2 vent
Prada, F., Franzellitti, S., Caroselli, E., Cohen, I., Marini, M., Campanelli, A., Sana, L., Mancuso, A., Marchini, C., Puglisi, A., Candela, M., Mass, T., Tassi, F., LaJeunesse, T. C., Dubinsky, Z., Falini, G. & Goffredo, S., Dec 2023, In: Communications Biology. 6, 1, 66.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
High physiological function for corals with thermally tolerant, host-adapted symbionts
Turnham, K. E., Aschaffenburg, M. D., Pettay, D. T., Paz-García, D. A., Reyes-Bonilla, H., Pinzón, J., Timmins, E., Smith, R. T., McGinley, M. P., Warner, M. E. & Lajeunesse, T. C., Jul 26 2023, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 290, 2003, 20231021.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Mutualistic dinoflagellates with big disparities in ribosomal DNA variation may confound estimates of symbiont diversity and ecology in the jellyfish Cotylorhiza tuberculata
LaJeunesse, T. C., Casado-Amezúa, P., Hume, B. C. C., Butler, C. C., Mordret, S., Piredda, R., De Luca, P., Pannone, R., Sarno, D., Wiedenmann, J. & D’Ambra, I., Dec 2022, In: Symbiosis. 88, 1-3, p. 1-10 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Revival of Philozoon Geddes for host-specialized dinoflagellates, ‘zooxanthellae’, in animals from coastal temperate zones of northern and southern hemispheres
LaJeunesse, T. C., Wiedenmann, J., Casado-Amezúa, P., D’Ambra, I., Turnham, K. E., Nitschke, M. R., Oakley, C. A., Goffredo, S., Spano, C. A., Cubillos, V. M., Davy, S. K. & Suggett, D. J., 2022, In: European Journal of Phycology. 57, 2, p. 166-180 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review