Reed college logo

The Maruyama Lab

Close-up video of a coral in the act of releasing an egg bundle
Close-up of an Aiptasia sea anemone with partial defects in symbiosis
A video of a series of confocal images showing an algal cell surrounded by a host-derived symbiosome.

The climate crisis threatens the very existence of coral reefs in the near future. As a major research goal, we are interested in understanding the genetic and cellular mechanisms that underpin photosymbiosis, which plays a critical role in the ecological success of coral reefs. Understanding the basic biology of symbiosis is key to protecting corals and predicting their future in a warming planet.

Research Directions

  • Symbiosis with photosynthetic algae has evolved several times and has shaped the evolutionary trajectory of life. In fact, corals and sea anemones are thought to have evolved photosymbiosis independently of one another.

    We are interested in understanding how genes and cellular machinery have been repeatedly co-opted to evolve photosymbioses.

  • With the introduction of new molecular tools and methods, it has recently become possible to target genes for CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis, RNAi knockdown, and over-expression as fluorescent constructs in the sea anemone, Aiptasia.

    We are functionally interrogating the genes involved in symbiosis, to gain an understanding on how perturbing the function of specific genes affect the physiology of each partner.

  • The symbiosome is the host-derived organelle in which the algal symbiont resides. This is the key interface for molecular communication and metabolic exchange between the two partners.

    A major research goal is to characterize the symbiotic interface in a variety of photosymbiotic organisms to probe how these compartments have repeatedly evolved and how they are functionally similar or divergent.

Lab Members

Shumpei Maruyama, PhD

Incoming Assistant Professor of Biology

A picture of Shumpei Maruyama sitting on a beach with his two Shiba Inus, one is orange, one is black.

I am interested in understanding the cell biology and evolution of symbiosis between animals and photosynthetic algae by using cutting-edge molecular biology and imaging techniques. I am thrilled to be joining the Biology Department in Spring of 2027.

I obtained my B.S. in Marine Biology at the University of California Santa Cruz and my PhD in Integrative Biology at Oregon State University from the Weis Lab. I will be coming to you from a postdoc at the University of California, Berkeley from the Cleves Lab.

Courses at Reed

Close-up of numerous small, colorful coral polyps

BIOL 347 - Symbiosis (Spring 2027)

Symbioses are an integral part of biological interactions that often form the foundation of entire ecosystems. This course will explore the diversity of symbioses that exist across life and how these symbiotic interactions both shape and are shaped by their environment. We will investigate how different symbioses have common themes in evolution, ecology, metabolism, and cell biology. In laboratory exercises, you will independently develop and perform experiments on a symbiotic sea anemone, Aiptasia, along with their dinoflagellate algal symbionts, to understand the genetic and cellular basis of photosymbiosis, and explore how this relationship is perturbed by environmental factors.

Full course for one semester. Lecture-Laboratory

Prerequisites: BIOL 101 and BIOL 102

Publications

Maruyama S, Henderson CH, Swinhoe N, Kowalewski GP, Meier E, Engelke T, Cleves PA. Co-option of lysosomal machinery shapes the evolution of the intracellular photosymbiosis supporting coral reefs. Cell. 2026 https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.09.679812

Swinhoe N, Tinoco AI, Sarfati DN, Henderson CH, Kowalewski GP, Meier EK, Urban JM, Maruyama S, Lawrence EC, Hulett RE, Engelke TR, Craggs J, Bay LK, Cleves PA CRISPR/Cas9-mutagenesis reveals that varying dependence on HSF1 is associated with differences in coral heat tolerance. BioRxiv. 2026 https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.01.714264

Renicke C, Swinhoe N, Henderson CH, Meier EK, Ling L, Keat GL, Maruyama S, Rangarajan-Paul M, Pringle JR, Cleves PA. Development of genetic tools for the sea anemone Aiptasia, a model system for coral biology. Genetics. 2025 https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyaf194

Sawiccy V, Tjandra NW, Maruyama S, Ruggeri M, Vo C, Harmon LA, Poole A, Weis VM. Regulatory role of NADPH oxidases in symbiosis and dysbiosis in the sea anemone Aiptasia. Frontiers in Marine Science. 2025 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1596098

Sawiccy V, Cai JB, Maruyama S, Leonardi NS, Weis VM, Kirk NL. Plug and play: A versatile CURE curriculum for scientific process skills in upper division life science labs. EdArXiv. 2023 https://doi.org/10.35542/osf.io/6be43

Maruyama S, Unsworth JR, Sawiccy V, Students of Oregon State University’s Z362 Spring 2021, Weis VM. Algae from Aiptasia egesta are robust representations of Symbiodiniaceae in the free-living state. PeerJ. 2022 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13796

Maruyama S, Mandelare-Ruiz PE, McCauley M, Peng W, Cho BG, Wang J, Mechref Y, Loesgen S, Weis VM. Heat stress of algal partner hinders colonization success and alters the algal cell surface glycome in a cnidarian-algal symbiosis. Microbiology Spectrum. 2022 https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01567-22

Maruyama S and Weis VM. Limitations of using cultured algae to study cnidarian-algal symbioses and suggestions for future studies. Journal of Phycology. 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/jpy.13102