NEW Publication: Giant Barrel Sponge (Xestospongia muta) Sequenced!

CITATION:

Lopez JV, Pomponi SA, Hentschel U et al. The chromosomal genome sequence of the giant barrel sponge, Xestospongia muta Schmidt 1870 and its associated microbial metagenome sequences [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]. Wellcome Open Res 2025, 10:336 https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.24173.1

July 8 2025

Dr. Jose Lopez

Giant Barrel Sponge (Xestospongia muta) Sequenced!

We are happy to announce that a chromosomal level whole nuclear genome of the giant barrel sponge, Xestospongia muta, and its microbial cohort, has now been published by our photosymbiotic and sponge hubs of the Sanger/Moore Aquatic Symbiosis Genome Project.

Among sessile marine invertebrates, X. muta, gets as "charismatic" as many other mobile marine metazoans: the sponge is large (sometimes more than 6 feet wide and deep), can be long lived into the decades, and the species provides rugosity and microhabitats for several Caribbean reefs that have lost many of their hard corals. Its annual spawning of gametes can also be very conspicuous and dramatic, spraying high and widely into the water column.

We hope this contribution grows in value to invertebrate symbiologists and the wider marine biology community!

Learn more about Dr. Lopez' work in a blog post published by the Sanger Institute - link below!

Enter the absorbing world of sponges - Wellcome Sanger Institute BlogEnter the absorbing world of sponges, the intricate animals that have evolved to inhabit all corners of our Earth’s waterways and oceans. Thanks to a worldwide collaboration of sponge scientists through the Aquatic Symbiosis Genomics project, which is led by the Wellcome Sanger Institute, more than 50 published high-quality sponge genomes and counting are now freely accessible to the research community.

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