Coral - September/October 2011

at the molecular level and has yielded important insights
into the evolution of all animals,” Miller explains. “The
availability of the genome sequence will enable major
advances in the understanding of many aspects of cor-
al biology, including the responses of corals to climate
change, ocean acidification, pollution, and disease.”
This project provides new opportunities at a critical
time. In the last few years, the cost of genome sequenc-
ing has decreased by several orders of magnitude, thanks
to groundbreaking technological advances. “These new
technologies present us with a unique opportunity to
explore the DNA of our fascinating Australian animals.
However, what we need is the funding and investment
in skills needed to carry out such research,” explains Syl-
vain Foret (CoECRS), who led this initial analysis.

The coral genome sequence has been a national col-
laborative effort by the Australian Genome Research Fa-
cility and researchers in the ARC Centre of Excellence
for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) based at James Cook
University, the Australian National University, Monash
University, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, and the
University of Queensland, together with sequencing
technology company Illumina. The project has brought
together some of the best young minds in Australian
genome science to tackle the daunting task of stitching
together the approximately 400 million letters of DNA
that make up the coral genome.

Acropora millepora
on the Great Barrier Reef
The scientists say that one of the main
challenges in this project was to recon-
struct the hundreds of millions of let-
ters of the coral genome using these very
small sequences. An additional challenge
was the high level of polymorphism of
this genome: like most animals, the coral
is diploid (each individual contains two
nearly identical sets of genes, one from
the father and one from the mother), but
the two haplotypes (the father and the
mother halves of the genome) are more
different in corals than in other animal
species. Addressing these issues required
that the Australian scientists develop a
number of pioneering genome assembly
methods.

First for Australia

This is the first animal genome project to be carried out entirely in Australia, and is an important milestone in Australian biotechnology and in the study of coral reefs, said the researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and the Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF).

“This is a first for Australian science. Here we show that Australia can unlock the genetic potential of its own unique fauna and flora for the national benefit,” says project coordinator Kirby Siemering from the AGRF.