Dr BILL LEGGAT
RECENT PUBLICATIONS:
1. Voolstra, C.R., Sunagawa, S., Schwarz, J.A., Coffroth, M.A., Yellowlees, D.,
Leggat, W., Medina, M. (2009) A comparison of cDNA libraries from cultured
and symbiotic dinoflagellate symbionts of reef-building corals (Dinophyceae:
Symbiodinium) Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part D: Genomics and
Proteomics. In press
2. Boldt, L., Yellowlees, D., Leggat, W. (2009) Measuring Symbiodinium sp. gene
expression patterns with quantitative real-time PCR. Proceedings of the 11th
International Coral Reef Symposium, Ft Lauderdale, Florida 7-11 July 2008
3. Kvennefors, C.E., Leggat, W., Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Degnan, B.M., Barnes, A.C.
(2008) An ancient, highly variable mannose binding lectin and the nexus between
coral disease and symbiosis. Development and Comparative Immunology 32
(12):1582-1592
4. Ainsworth, T.D., Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Heron, S.F., Skirving, W.J., Leggat, W.
(2008) Pre-bleaching signs of thermal stress in reef building corals. Journal of
Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 364:63-71
5. Yellowlees, D., Rees, T.A.V., Leggat, W. (2008) Metabolic interactions between
algal symbionts and invertebrate hosts. Plant, Cell and Environment 31:679-694
6. Middlebrook, R. Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Leggat, W. (2008) The effect of thermal
history on the susceptibility of reef-building coral to thermal stress. Journal of
Experimental Biology 211:1050-1056
7. Yellowlees, D., Leggat, W. (2008) Heat shock. Australasian Science May 34-35
8. Leggat, W., Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Dove, S., Yellowlees, D. (2007) Analysis of an
EST library from the dinoflagellate (Symbiodinium sp.) symbiont of reef-building
corals. J. Phycol 43:1010-1021
9. Levy, O., Appelbaum, L., Leggat, W., Gothlif, Y., Hayward, D.C., Miller, D.J.,
Hoegh-Guldberg, O. (2007) Light-responsive cryptochromes from one of the
simplest extant animal the coral Acropora millepora. Science 318(5849):467-470
10. Leggat, W., Ainsworth, T., Bythell, J., Dove, S., Gates, R., Hoegh-Guldberg, O.,
Iglesias-Prieto, R., Yellowlees, D. (2007) The hologenome theory disregards the
coral holobiont. Nature Review Microbiology 5(10): doi:10.1038/nrmicro1635-c1
11. Baird, A.H., Cumbo, V.R., Leggat, W., Rodriguez-Lanetty, M. (2007) Flexibility
of coral symbioses in response to climate change. MEPS 347:307-309
12. Yarden, O., Ainsworth, T., Roff, G., Leggat, W., Fine, M., Hoegh-Guldberg, O.
(2007) Increased prevalence of ubiquitous ascomycetes in an acropoid coral
(Acropora formosa) exhibiting symptoms of brown band syndrome and skeletal
eroding band. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73:2755-2757
13. Leggat, W., Ainsworth, T., Dove, S., Hoegh-Guldberg, O. (2006) Aerial
exposure influences bleaching patterns. Coral Reefs 25(3):452
14. Leggat, W., Dixon, R., Saleh, S., Yellowlees, D. (2005) A novel carbonic
anhydrase from the giant clam Tridacna gigas contains two carbonic anhydrase
domains. FEBS Journal. 272:3297-3305
15. Edmunds, P., Gates, R., Leggat, W., Hoegh-Guldberg, O. (2005) The effect of
temperature on the size and population density of dinoflagellates in larvae from
the reef coral Porites asteroides. Invertebrate Biology 124(3):185-193
16. Leggat, W., Whitney, S.M., Yellowlees, D. (2004) Is coral bleaching due to the
instability of the zooxanthellae dark reactions? Symbiosis 37:137-154
17. Leggat, W., Buck, B.H., Grice, A., Yellowlees, D. (2003) The impact of
bleaching on the metabolic contribution of dinoflagellate symbionts to their giant
clams hosts. Plant Cell and Environment. 26:1951-1961
18. Leggat, W., Marendy, E.M., Baillie, B., Whitney, S.M., Ludwig, M., Badger,
M.R., Yellowlees, D. (2002) Dinoflagellate symbioses: strategies and adaptations
for the acquisition and fixation of inorganic carbon. Functional Plant Biology
29:309-322.
19. Leggat, W., Rees, T.A.V., Yellowlees, D. (2000) Meeting the demand for
inorganic carbon in an alga-invertebrate association: preferential use of CO2 by
symbionts in the giant clam Tridacna gigas. Proceedings of the Royal Society of
London Series B 267:523-529
20. Leggat, W., Badger, M.R., Yellowlees, D. (1999) Evidence for an inorganic
carbon-concentrating mechanism in the symbiotic dinoflagellate Symbiodinium
sp. Plant Physiology 121:1247-1255
21. Shepherd, D. Leggat, W., Rees, T.A.V., Yellowlees, D. (1999) Ammonium, but
not nitrate, stimulates an increase in glutamine concentration in the haemolymph
of Tridacna gigas. Marine Biology 133:45-53
22. Belda-Baillie, C.A., Leggat, W., Yellowlees, D. (1998) Growth and metabolic
responses of the giant clam-zooxanthellae symbiosis in a reef-fertilisation
experiment. Marine Ecology Progress Series 170:131-141.
23. Badger, M.R., Andrews, T.J., Whitney, S.M., Ludwig, M., Yellowlees, D.,
Leggat, W., Price, G.D. (1998) The diversity and coevolution of Rubisco, plastids,
pyrenoids, and chloroplast-based CO2-concentrating mechanisms in algae.
Canadian Journal of Botany 76:1052-1071.
RECENT SCIENCE COMMUNICATION:
1. National Geographic News – Moonlight triggers mass coral “romance”.
2. Science
Daily
–
Weird
“Engine
of
the
Reef”
Revealed.
3. Science Magazine - REEFS IN TROUBLE: Moonlight Sonata on the Reef.
MEMBERS OF LEGGAT LABORATORY:
Kenneth Wasmund BSc (Hons).
Research Assistant.
Project: Symbiodinium genomics and microarray studies of symbiont
physiology.
Daisie Ogawa BSc (Hons).
PhD Student.
Project: TBA
Lynda Boldt BSc (Hons).
PhD Student.
Project: Symbiodinium light regulated genes and the affect of varying
environmental stresses.
Teressa Bobeszko BSc(Hons).
PhD Student.
Project. The role of carbonic anhydrase in the coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis
Ms Tamsyn Garby.
B Sc Honours Student (2008).
The role of metacaspases in Symbiodinium.
Further collaborative student projects with Leggat Laboratory:
Brent Knack – Characterisation of integrin subunits in Acropora millepora
Annamieke van den Heuvel - Characterization of genes, proteins and the regulatory
pathways involved in nitrogen uptake and assimilation in Acropora aspera and
its symbiont Symbiodinium sp.
Charlotte Kvennefors Host-pathogen interactions in reef building corals.
Jeffry Deckenback (PhD) - Maturation, turn-over, oligomerization, and transport of
pocilloporins
Ruth Reef (PhD) - The effect of temperature on the accumulation and repair of UV
damage in zooxanthellae and corals and its ecological significance.
CURRENT COLLABORTAIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS:
Professor Monica Medina. University of California, Merced
Symbiodinium genomics
Professor Ruth Gates. Hawaiian Institute for Marine Biology
Symbiodinium Genomics
Professor David Yellowlees. James Cook University
Symbiodinium physiology and genomics.
Professor David Miller. James Cook University
Coral host functional biology in symbiosis
Dr Tracy Ainsworth. James Cook University
Coral stress biology.
LINKS:
http://www.jcu.edu.au/cgc/SymbiosisHP.html
http://www.jcu.edu.au/phms/staff/JCUPRD_031399.html
Images to use on webpage: