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Research interests
System: Coral reef ecosystems face growing threats from global climate change, with profound ecological and socio-economic consequences. While historically resilient, the current increasing intensity and frequency of environmental disturbances are overwhelming the adaptive capacities of many marine organisms. Understanding how species evolve with their environments and how human activities disrupt these relationships is essential for conservation.
Goals: Investigate the evolutionary and molecular processes driving marine biodiversity. Develop an integrated understanding of these processes at both the genetic and phenotypic levels to predict adaptive capabilities and biotic responses to environmental change. Focus on how biodiversity arises, is maintained, and declines in marine invertebrates. Our work spans species, populations, and organisms, using fieldwork, experiments, and museum collections alongside advanced genomic analyses.
Main Research Themes
Species Evolution to Inform Species Management
A key question in systematics is whether widespread, morphologically uniform species reflect evolutionary stasis or hidden genetic diversity. Cryptic species, common in marine invertebrates, challenge conservation efforts. Using comparative phylogenomics coupled with morphological data, we aim to uncover diversification patterns, the emergence of new traits, and ecological specialization in marine bivalves.
Population Diversity to Predict Population Resilience
Population resilience to environmental changes relies on genetic diversity and connectivity. We investigate how natural and human disturbances, including habitat fragmentation, population displacement, and overfishing, affect the connectivity and diversity of commercially important bivalves populations, using modern molecular techniques.
Organismal Molecular Mechanisms of Resilience
A key goal in evolutionary biology is to understand how phenotypic plasticity and adaptation contribute to biodiversity. We focus on understanding the genetic mechanisms that drive acclimation to changing environments in bivalve and coral individual organism by examining variations in gene expression and regulatory processes.
Our research group is dedicated to justice, equity, and inclusion, advocating for the fair treatment of all individuals, irrespective of race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. We actively promote anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-discriminatory practices in all aspects of our work. Sarah Lemer is committed to advancing the careers of women, people of color, and Indigenous peoples. We welcome students and postdocs who share these values and are passionate about invertebrate evolutionary genomics.
Related laboratory
Contact person
Dr. Sarah Lemer
- Head of section
- Scientific head of Molecular lab
Phone: +49 40 238317 631
E-Mail: s.lemer@leibniz-lib.de
Impressions
Projects
There are currently no projects available
Publications
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2025/12
Photosymbiosis shaped animal genome architecture and gene evolution as revealed in giant clams
Communications Biology, 1, 8
2025/1
Comparative Genomics Points to Ecological Drivers of Genomic Divergence Among Intertidal Limpets
Molecular Ecology resources
2024/12
Genomic data reveals habitat partitioning in massive Porites on Guam, Micronesia
Scientific reports, 1, 14
2024/12
Ecology of endolithic bryozoans: colony development, growth rates and interactions of species in the genus Immergentia
Zoological Letters, 1, 10
2024/8
Comparative genomics points to ecological drivers of genomic divergence among intertidal limpets
Molecular Ecology resources
2024/7
The genome sequence of the heart cockle, Fragum sueziense (Issel, 1869)
Wellcome Open Research, 9
2024/6
Boring life: early colony formation and growth in the endolithic bryozoan genus Penetrantia Silén, 1946
Zoological Letters, 1, 10
2024/4
Boring systematics: A genome skimmed phylogeny of ctenostome bryozoans and their endolithic family Penetrantiidae with the description of one new species
Ecology and Evolution, 4, 14
2024/3
The genome sequence of a heart cockle, Fragum whitleyi Iredale, 1929
Wellcome Open Research, 130, 9
2024/3
The genome sequence of a heart cockle, Fragum fragum (Linnaeus, 1758)
Wellcome Open Research, 129, 9
2024/0
Photosymbiosis Shaped Animal Genome Architecture and Gene Evolution as Revealed in Giant Clams
bioRxiv
2023/12
Boring bryozoans: an investigation into the endolithic bryozoan family Penetrantiidae
Organisms Diversity & Evolution, 4, 23
2023/7
Genomic signatures suggesting adaptation to ocean acidification in a coral holobiont from volcanic CO2 seeps
Communications Biology, 1, 6
2023/0
Three new species of Nautilus Linnaeus, 1758 (Mollusca, Cephalopoda) from the Coral Sea and South Pacific
ZooKeys, 1143
2022/5
Phylogeny of Amphidinium (Dinophyceae) from Guam and Okinawa, with descriptions of A. pagoense sp. nov. and A. uduigamense sp. nov.
Phycologia, 3, 61
2022/4
Effects of elevated temperature on reproduction and larval settlement in Leptastrea purpurea
Coral Reefs, 2, 41
2021/11
Diversity and toxicity of Pacific strains of the benthic dinoflagellate Coolia (Dinophyceae), with a look at the Coolia canariensis species complex
Harmful Algae, 109
2021/10
Evolutionary management of coral‐reef fisheries using phylogenies to predict density dependence
Ecological applications, 7, 31
2021/9
Phylogeny of Micronesian emperor fishes and evolution of trophic types
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 162
2021/6
Tightening the girdle: phylotranscriptomics of Polyplacophora
Journal of Molluscan Studies, 2, 87
2021/5
Going with the flow: How corals in high‐flow environments can beat the heat
Molecular Ecology, 9, 30
2020/12
Shedding light: a phylotranscriptomic perspective illuminates the origin of photosymbiosis in marine bivalves
BMC Evolutionary Biology, 20
2019/7
Revisiting metazoan phylogeny with genomic sampling of all phyla
Proceedings of the royal society B, 1906, 286
2019/6
Putting keyhole limpets on the map: phylogeny and biogeography of the globally distributed marine family Fissurellidae (Vetigastropoda, Mollusca)
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 135
2019/2
Resolving the relationships of clams and cockles: dense transcriptome sampling drastically improves the bivalve tree of life
Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 1896, 286
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2019
Employees
Melissa Aksoy
zmb Invertebrate Genomics, Molecular Laboratory HamburgPhone: +49 40 238317-560
E-mail: m.aksoy@leibniz-lib.de
Katharina Gebauer
zmb Invertebrate Genomics, Molecular Laboratory HamburgPhone: +49 40 238317-642
E-mail: k.gebauer@leibniz-lib.deJennifer Lauschke
zmb Invertebrate Genomics, Molecular Laboratory HamburgPhone: +49 40 238317-706
E-mail: j.lauschke@leibniz-lib.de