The Coral Genome Project

Methods

Summary

I will begin by isolating genomic DNA from a colony of Montastraea cavernosa collected from the Flower Gardens Banks in the Gulf of Mexico. The isolated DNA will be broken into small pieces and specialized adapters will be appended to them. The adapters allow the fragments to adhere to a specialized surface similar to a computer chip. Here millions of fragments will be sequenced at once using a color coded system where each letter of the genetic code glows a particular color. After sequencing, the millions of small sequencing reads will be compiled back together to assemble the reference genome.

Challenges

Computational Resources from TACC (https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/): Building a genome is computationally expensive, usually a major cost for such projects. Fortunately, the Texas Advanced Computing Center provides our laboratory computational resources free of charge.

Pre Analysis Plan

The major product of the proposed project will be the reference genome itself. The first major analysis I will perform with it is a test for differences in genes between closely located but environmentally distinct coral reefs in the Florida Keys. The reference genome will greatly enhance this analysis, and allow us to pinpoint genes responsible for coral adaptation to unique environmental conditions.