School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

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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

(* Corresponding author, †Co-first author)

  1. Cui G*†, Ngugi DK†, Konciute M, Cheng S, Liew KX, Mi J, Al-Babili S, Aranda M*. Algal symbiosis adaptively restructures the cnidarian microbiome to enhance holobiont metabolism. Nature Communications 2026; In Press
  2. Zhong H, Han W, Cui G, Gabrero DG, Tegner J, Gao X, Aranda M. Unify learns cellular evolution with universal multimodal embeddings. Nature Communications 2026; 17:9290. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-76230-y
  3. Barno AR, Villela HDM, Cardoso PM, García FC, Cui G, Delgadillo-Ordoñez N, Rosado AS, Thomas T, Aranda M, Voolstra CR, Peixoto RS. Bacterial inoculation manipulates the coral epigenome. Nature Communications 2026; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-77646-2
  4. 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. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkae1316
  5. 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. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42582-y
  6. 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. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adf7108
  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. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abq0304
  8. 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. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-022-01306-2
  9. Wang X, Zoccola D, Liew YJ, Tambutte E, Cui G, Allemand D, Tambutte S, Aranda M. The evolution of calcification in reef-building corals. Molecular Biology and Evolution 2021; 38(9):3543-3555. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msab103
  10. Jia K, Dickinson AJ, Mi j, Cui G, Kharbatia NM, Guo X, Sugiono E, Aranda M, Rueping M, Benfey PN, Al-Babili S. Anchorene is an endogenous diapocarotenoid required for anchor root formation in Arabidopsis. Science Advances 2019; 5(1): eaaw6787. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aaw6787
  11. 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. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008189
  12. Li Y, Liew YJ, Cui G, Cziesielski M, Zahran N, Michell C, Voolstra C, Aranda M. DNA methylation regulates transcriptional homeostasis of algal endosymbiosis in the coral model Aiptasia. Science Advances 2018; 4(8): eaat2142. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aat2142
  13. Liew YJ, Zoccola D, Li Y, Tambutté E, Venn A, Michell C, Cui G, Deutekom E, Kaandorp J, Voolstra C, Forêt S, Allemand D, Tambutté S, Aranda M. Epigenome-associated phenotypic acclimatization to ocean acidification in a reef-building coral. Science Advances 2018; 4(6): eaar8028. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aar8028
  14. 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. https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2017.179

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