My name is Joyah Watkins and I am a PhD student in the Correa Lab at Rice University. My research investigates the role of ocean viruses in coral health and disease (e.g., Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease).

Marine RNA viruses play a crucial role in ocean ecosystems, influencing microbial community dynamics and biogeochemical cycles. However, their diversity, distribution, and ecological significance remain poorly understood, particularly within coral reef ecosystems. Stony corals rely on an intricate symbiosis with dinoflagellates of the family Symbiodiniaceae, which are susceptible to infection by positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+ssRNA) viruses known as dinoflagellate-infecting RNA viruses (dinoRNAVs). Despite their potential impact on coral health, dinoRNAVs have been largely understudied. Here, we present the first large-scale meta-synthesis of dinoRNAV biogeography by mining publicly available metatranscriptomic data from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database. We analyzed 2,389 RNA-Seq libraries comprising coral metatranscriptomes from diverse coral species and geographic regions. Among these, 455 libraries contained putative dinoRNAV sequences, with their distribution spanning the Pacific (n = 284), Indian (n = 111), and Atlantic (n = 80) Oceans. Sequence analyses revealed genomic differences in key viral proteins, including RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and the major capsid protein (MCP), suggesting potential genetic diversification across oceanic basins. The next phase of this study involves refining sequence mining techniques and conducting a comprehensive assessment of sequence quality, genetic diversity, and functional annotations. This research represents the first extensive meta-analysis of a single viral lineage associated with stony corals, providing novel insights into its global distribution and genetic diversity.