School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Home>Our People>Academic Staff>Cui, Guoxin

Cui, Guoxin

Address(Office): Rm 103, Simon F.S. Li Marine Science Laboratory
(Lab): Rm 106, Simon F.S. Li Marine Science Laboratory
Phone(Office): (852) 3943 6772
(Lab): (852) 3943 6774
Emailguoxincui@cuhk.edu.hk

Education

  • 2018, Ph.D. (BioScience), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
  • 2011, M.Sc. (Developmental Biology), Northeast Forestry University
  • 2008, B.Sc. (Biotechnology), Northeast Forestry University

Current Positions

Assistant Professor, School of Life Sciences, CUHK

Research Interests

  • Cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis;
  • Host-microbe interaction, molecular dialogue, and metabolic coordination;
  • Single-cell, spatial transcriptomics, and multi-omics integration;
  • Environmental stress, climate change, and coral reef ecology

Representative Publications

  1. Zhong H, Han W, Gomez-Cabrero D, Tegner J, Gao X, Cui G*, Aranda M*. Benchmarking cross-species single-cell RNA-seq data integration methods: towards a cell type tree of life. Nucleic Acids Research 2025; 53(1), gkae1316 (*co-corresponding author)
  2. Mao F, Xiao S, Dang X, Cui G, Gaitán-Espitia JD, Thiyagarajan V, Vidal-Dupiol J, Yi W, Yu Z, Zhang Y. Metabolic shifts and muscle remodeling as pro-survival and energy compensation strategies in photosymbiotic giant clams after bleaching. Environmental Science & Technology 2025; 59(21):10239-10252
  3. Cui G*, Mi J, Moret A, Zhong H, Hung SH, Al-Babili S, Aranda M*. A carbon-nitrogen negative feedback loop underlies the repeated evolution of cnidarian–Symbiodiniaceae symbioses. Nature Communications 2023; 14(1):6949. (*co-corresponding author)
  4. Cui G*, Konciute MK, Ling L, Esau L, Raina JB, Han B, Salazar OR, Presnell JS, Rädecker N, Zhong H, Menzies J, Cleves PA, Liew YJ, Krediet CJ, Sawiccy V, Cziesielski MJ, Guagliardo P, Bougoure J, Pernice M, Hirt H, Voolstra CR, Weis VM, Pringle JR, Aranda M*. Molecular insights into the Darwin paradox of coral reefs from the sea anemone Aiptasia. Science Advances 2023; 9(11):eadf7108. (*co-corresponding author)
  5. Cui G*, Liew YJ, Konciute MK, Zhan Y, Hung SH, Thistle J, Gastoldi J, Schmidt- Roach S, Dekker J, Aranda M*. Nutritional control regulates symbiont life history in coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis. BMC Biology 2022; 20(1):103. (*co-corresponding author)
  6. Nawaz K, Cziesielski M, Mariappan K, Cui G, Aranda M. Histone modifications and DNA methylation act cooperatively in regulating symbiosis genes in the sea anemone Aiptasia. BMC Biology 2022; 20(1):265
  7. Salazar OR, Arun PN, Cui G, Bay LK, van Oppen MJH, Webster NS, Aranda M. The coral Acropora loripes genome reveals an alternative pathway for cysteine biosynthesis in animals. Science Advances 2022; 8(38): eabq0304
  8. Herrera M, Liew YJ, Venn A, Tambutte E, Zoccola D, Tambutte S, Cui G*, Aranda M*. New insights from transcriptomic data reveal differential effects of CO2 acidification stress on photosynthesis of an endosymbiotic dinoflagellate in hospite. Frontiers in Microbiology 2021; 12:666510. (*co-corresponding author)
  9. Cui G, Liew YJ, Li Y, Kharbatia N, Zahran N, Emwas A, Eguiluz V, Aranda M. Host-dependent nitrogen recycling as a mechanism of symbiont control in Aiptasia. PLoS Genetics 2019; 15(6): e1008189.
  10. Chen JE†, Cui G†, Wang X, Liew YJ, Aranda M. Recent expansion of heat-activated retrotransposons in the coral symbiont Symbiodinium microadriaticum. ISME J 2018, 312: 639-643. (†co-first author)

Research Grants

2024–2025, OFP, Epigenetic regulation of environmental memory in the cnidarian model system Exaiptasia diaphana (co-I, $124,000 USD)

2024–2025, ShuSha R&D, Accelerating coral growth with proliferation-enhancing growth factors (co-I, $110,000 USD)

2023–2025, CRG2023, FuncGen — A functional CRISPR screen in corals ( co-I, $369,965 USD)

Professional Activities

  • Associate Editor, Frontiers in Marine Science, 03/2026 – pres
  • Invited Guest Eidtor, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 2025 – 2026