CAREER: Uncovering the Gene Regulatory Networks of Coral Skeleton Development

Coral reefs are among the most important ecosystems on Earth, supporting nearly one quarter of all marine biodiversity while also providing food security, coastal protection, tourism revenue, and cultural value to millions of people worldwide. Despite their importance, scientists still know remarkably little about how corals develop and form the calcium carbonate skeletons that create reef structures. This lack of knowledge limits our ability to understand coral evolution, improve coral restoration strategies, and predict how reefs will respond to environmental stressors such as climate change and ocean acidification. This project seeks to uncover the genetic and developmental mechanisms that allow corals to build their skeletons. The project will also provide practical benefits for coral reef restoration. Many restoration programs now rely on growing corals from fertilized eggs and larvae before transplanting them onto damaged reefs. However, larval survival and development remain major bottlenecks to restoration success. By identifying the genes and regulatory pathways that control coral development and skeleton formation, this work will generate predictive models that may guide future restoration and conservation strategies. Beyond its scientific contributions, the project advances education and workforce development. The project will establish a first-year research experience for biology students, develop a marine genomics course-based undergraduate research experience, and create a career readiness symposium to support student success and workforce preparation. The project will also engage K–8 students through marine science outreach programs designed to inspire future scientists. Together, these activities will prepare and strengthen the next generation of researchers and educators. This project investigates the developmental and evolutionary origins of calicoblasts, the coral-specific cells responsible for secreting the calcium carbonate skeleton. The central hypothesis is that cnidarian gene regulatory networks (GRNs) have been evolutionarily rewired to specify calicoblast identity in corals. The project has three primary objectives. First, lineage tracing approaches will be used to identify the embryonic origins of calicoblasts during coral development. Second, cis-regulatory analyses will be performed to construct a high-resolution GRN underlying calicoblast specification. This work will identify regulatory elements and transcription factor interactions that control cell fate determination. Third, functional perturbation experiments, including targeted gene knockdown, will test the calicoblast specification sub-network to determine the genetic mechanisms required for coral skeleton secretion. The resulting data will provide the first comprehensive analysis of gene regulation and cell specification in corals. This work will establish new models and methodologies for coral developmental biology and functional genomics while informing broader questions about the evolution of novel cell types. The predictive GRN framework generated through this project will also support future studies in coral restoration, larval development, and biomineralization. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. NSF Award ID: 2542946 | Program: 01003031DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT,01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT | Principal Investigator: Jacob Warner | Institution: University of North Carolina at Wilmington, WILMINGTON, NC | Award Amount: $699,589 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2542946 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2542946.html