About
E5 Coral is a team formed by six research labs from top public U.S. universities that work together to predict phenotypic and eco-evolutionary consequences of environmental energetic epigenetic linkages.
This project uses symbiotic, metabolically complex reef-building corals as a model system to test the connections between physiological, epigenetic, and metabolic states, and predict how population and community dynamics are influenced by epigenetically-modulated phenotypes.
🧬 Species and Reference Genomes
This genome browser supports exploration of coral species included in our genomic analyses. For several species, direct reference genomes are not yet available. In these cases, we selected closely related species with high-quality assemblies as references, based on evolutionary proximity, morphological similarity, and assembly quality.
Reference Genome: Acropora pulchra
Source: Conn et al., 2025
Genome Size: 518 Mbp
N50: 17 Mbp
Protein-Coding Genes: 40,518
Reference Genome: Pocillopora meandrina
Source: Stephens et al., 2022
Genome Size: ~377 Mbp
N50: 10 Mbp
Protein-Coding Genes: 31,840
P. tuahiniensis does not yet have a published genome. P. meandrina was selected as a reference because of its morphological similarity and close evolutionary relationship. Although P. verrucosa is more closely related phylogenetically, P. meandrina provides a higher-quality assembly (N50 = 10 Mbp vs. 0.334 Mbp) and more comprehensive annotation.
Reference Genome: Porites evermanni
Source: Genoscope Coral Genomes
Genome Size: ~497 Mbp
N50: 0.17 Mbp
Protein-Coding Genes: 40,389
This genome was assembled from a sample collected in Mo’orea and is used directly in analyses without substitution.