Todd LaJeunesse

IEE Faculty Member
Titles and Affiliations
Professor, Biology

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.

In the News

Research Keywords

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Recent Publications

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 journalArticlepeer-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 journalArticlepeer-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 journalArticlepeer-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 journalArticlepeer-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 journalArticlepeer-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, Hoadley, K. D., Howells, E. J., Hume, B. C. C., Kemp, D. W., Kenkel, C. D., Kitchen, S. A., LaJeunesse, T. C., Lin, S., McIlroy, S. E., McMinds, R., Nitschke, M. R., Oakley, C. A., Peixoto, R. S., Prada, C., Putnam, H. M., Quigley, K., Reich, H. G., Reimer, J. D., Rodriguez-Lanetty, M., Rosales, S. M., Saad, O. S., Sampayo, E. M., Santos, S. R., Shoguchi, E., Smith, E. G., Stat, M., Stephens, T. G., Strader, M. E., Suggett, D. J., Swain, T. D., Tran, C., Traylor-Knowles, N., Voolstra, C. R., Warner, M. E., Weis, V. M., Wright, R. M., Xiang, T., Yamashita, H., Ziegler, M., Correa, A. M. S. & Parkinson, J. E., May 2 2023, In: PeerJ. 11, e15023.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-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 journalArticlepeer-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 journalArticlepeer-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 journalComment/debatepeer-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 journalArticlepeer-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 journalArticlepeer-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 journalArticlepeer-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 journalArticlepeer-review

Bioprinted Living Coral Microenvironments Mimicking Coral-Algal Symbiosis

Wangpraseurt, D., Sun, Y., You, S., Chua, S. T., Noel, S. K., Willard, H. F., Berry, D. B., Clifford, A. M., Plummer, S., Xiang, Y., Hwang, H. H., Kaandorp, J., Diaz, J. M., La Jeunesse, T. C., Pernice, M., Vignolini, S., Tresguerres, M. & Chen, S., Aug 25 2022, In: Advanced Functional Materials. 32, 35, 2202273.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Different functional traits among closely related algal symbionts dictate stress endurance for vital Indo-Pacific reef-building corals

Hoadley, K. D., Pettay, D. T., Lewis, A., Wham, D., Grasso, C., Smith, R., Kemp, D. W., LaJeunesse, T. & Warner, M. E., Oct 2021, In: Global Change Biology. 27, 20, p. 5295-5309 15 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review