Jamie Craggs

The tuxedo sea urchin Mespilia globulus: A fast-developing and tractable model for genomic and developmental biology

This paper introduces Mespilia globulus as a new sea urchin model with rapid development and tractability for genomic and developmental studies, showing a conservative gene repertoire and no heteromorphic sex chromosomes.

A light-off response characterised by body contraction and ciliary arrest in Acropora coral larvae

The paper describes how Acropora coral larvae respond to light dimming by contracting and stopping ciliary movement, which may help them position themselves in reef environments.

CRISPR/Cas9-mutagenesis reveals that varying dependence on HSF1 is associated with differences in coral heat tolerance

The paper uses CRISPR/Cas9 to show that heat-tolerant corals rely less on HSF1 for survival during heat stress compared to heat-sensitive corals.

Excluding Large Grazers Dramatically Improves Survival of Outplanted Juvenile Corals

This study shows that excluding large grazers using deterrents significantly improves survival and growth of outplanted juvenile corals.

Cross-Species Biomechanical Determinants of Shape Diversity

The paper identifies biomechanical modules that govern larval shape diversity across six cnidarian species and shows how manipulating these modules can transform shapes between species.

Optimised DNA isolation from marine sponges for natural sampler DNA (nsDNA) metabarcoding

This study optimises DNA isolation from marine sponges for metabarcoding, finding that blotting tissue dry and using a non-commercial protocol improves taxon recovery and sequence reads.

The reef-building coral Galaxea fascicularis: a new model system for coral symbiosis research

This paper identifies Galaxea fascicularis as a new model coral species for studying symbiosis, showing it can be bleached and reinfected with non-native algae and complete its gametogenic cycle in captivity.

What's left in the tank? Identification of non-ascribed aquarium's coral collections with DNA barcodes as part of an integrated diagnostic approach

This study uses DNA barcoding to identify coral species in aquarium collections, finding that 44% could be identified to species level and 80% provisionally, highlighting biases in reference databases.