M A R I N E
G E N O M I C S
Events
20-24 AUGUST 2017
6-9 FEBRUARY 2017
2017 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference
6-10 JULY 2016
2016 American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Meeting
5 FEBRUARY 2016
2016 C-Image-II All Hands Meeting
1-4 FEBRUARY 2016
MGL hosts a section of the Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science Conference
19-23 OCTOBER 2015
RADSeq BIOINFORMATICS WORKSHOP: Led by Dr. Jon Puritz at Nha Trang University, Vietnam
16 OCTOBER 2015
FAREWELL, DR. JOHN GOLD!
Dr. John Gold officially retires
9-29 SEPTEMBER 2015
SOUTHERN GULF RESEARCH CRUISE:
2 SEPTEMBER 2015
FEATURED MGL ARTICLE:
10-26 AUGUST 2015
NOAA BOTTOM LONGLINE SURVEY:
12-18 AUGUST 2015
MUD & BLOOD:
31 JULY 2015
MGL GRANT AWARD:
8 JULY 2015
NEW MGL PUBLICATION:
MGL NEWS
From Once Species to Two: Amanda Barker is highlighted by TAMU-CC for her dissertation work
Posted February 2018
PhD student, Ms. Amanda Barker and Dr. David Portnoy were interviewed by the TAMU-CC media team to talk about her current dissertation work. The article highlights the importance of Amanda’s research and what it potentially means for fisheries managers. A link to the article can be found here.
Lizz Hunt, 2017 TCAFS Student Scholarship Recipient
Posted February 2017
Ms. Lizz Hunt, a Master’s student at the MGL, was awarded the 2017 Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society (TCAFS) Student Scholarship. This scholarship is awarded to outstanding TCAFS members pursuing fisheries degrees. In 2016, Lizz established the TAMU-CC Student AFS Subunit and continues to demonstrate excellence in teaching, research and leadership through the university and AFS.
Weatherbird Fishing Cruises
Posted November 2015
Researchers and students from USF-College of Marine Science and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi spent time demersal (bottom) longline fishing to collect target species associated with oil exposure (red snapper, golden tilefish, grouper, and southern hake).
Tissues taken from the fish included muscle tissue, liver, spleen, eyes, gills, otiliths, fin clips, blood (serum & plasma), and bile to be used in genomic studies, stock health assessment and PAH compound concentrations.
This summer, researchers collected 715 fish in the southern Gulf of Mexico translating to over 4,800 tissue or blood samples, over 400 ichthyological photos, and 22 plankton samples along the longest Gulf axis W to E.
This article is courtesy of the C-Image-II November 2015 Newsletter, produced by the USF College of Marine Science.
Research Spotlight - Dr. John Gold (TAMU-CC)
Posted July 2015
When C-IMAGE II began in January 2015 new consortium members at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) focused a number of their research questions on the genomic changes in fish after oil spills. Dr. John Gold, a researcher from TAMU-CC, studies Population Genomics of fish species like Red Snapper and Golden Tilefish in the Gulf of Mexico.
Genomics focuses on all the genes (the collective genes) of a chromosome and interactions between individual genes, where
genetics focuses on function of a single gene. Gold has studied Population Genomics of other exploited fish including King Mackerel and Red Drum, but his C-IMAGE research will focus on population impacts of oil spills.
John Gold takes tissue samples from oil-impacted fish for later genomics analysis. Gold's main research questions center around understanding the future of a species including (1) what types of genetic changes occur in oil-impacted fish, and (2) will future species successfully reproduce after being impacted by oil and dispersants?
Gold benefits from new technologies to aid his research. "In this case, it's the field of genomics, which involves the next generation sequencing to obtain thousands of genetic markers" Gold said. Next Next generation sequencing technologies have increased the number of detected micro-satellites from fifteen - typical in traditional studies, into the thousands, which increases the power of Gold's research and results.
Although TAMU-Corpus Christi is new to C-IMAGE II, they have quickly become involved in several tasks. Paul Montagna, Melissa Rohal, Travis Washburn, and Rick Kalke are involved in studying oil-sediment deposition, fate, and impacts (Task 3). John Gold, Megan Robillard, David Portnoy, Greg Stuntz, Jennifer Wetz, Wes Tunnell, Matt Ajemian, and Tara Toppin study hydrocarbon impacts on fishes and invertebrates (Task 4), and David Yoskowitz focuses on ecosystem modeling (Task 6). The expertise from all TAMU-CC and Harte Institute members will be crucial in constructing a holistic view of oil spills in Gulf ecosystems.
This article is courtesy of the C-Image-II July 2015 Newsletter, produced by the USF College of Marine Science.
Ichthylogy Field Course
Posted June 2015
In May 2015, Texas A&M University professors Dr. David Portnoy of Corpus Christi and Dr. Kevin Conway of College Station set out to conduct an intensive 2-week ichthyology field course along the Guadelupe River drainage. A crew of 7 enrolled students gained hands-on experience sampling creeks and headwaters from Edwards Plateau down to San Antonio Bay using electrofishing techniques, seines and hand nets. Despite having to make a few unexpected adjustments to the original collection plans due to uncommon seasonal flooding in the area, students successfully identified 62 different fish species. Drs. Portnoy and Conway are looking forward to offering this course again in summer 2016 on a different river drainage.
MARINE GENOMICS LABORATORY • TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY - CORPUS CHRISTI • 6300 OCEAN DRIVE • CORPUS CHRISTI, TX 78412 - 5869