Rosa Celia POQUITA-DU

She is one of the Research Fellows for the project “Ecologically engineering Singapore’s seawalls to enhance biodiversity”, under the National Research Foundation - Marine Science Research and Development Programme. She received her Doctoral degree in 2019 from the Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore (NUS). She also holds a Master of Science in Environmental Management, awarded by the School of Design and Environment, NUS.

Her research integrates multidisciplinary tools, including taxonomic, phylogenetic, experimental, molecular, and genomic tools to generate broad insights into the ecology and physiology of corals, using Pocillopora acuta as the model species. She is also interested in the interplay between the two main compartments of a coral holobiont (coral host and endosymbiotic dinoflagellates) under suboptimal conditions. 

Research interests

Pocillopora acuta, Symbiodiniaceae, genomics, transcriptomics, photophysiology 

Recent Publications

Fong J, Poquita-Du RC, Todd PA (in press). Plastic responses in the coral Pocillopora acuta to extreme low light conditions with and without food provision. Marine Biology

Pang HE, Poquita-Du RC*, Jain SS, Huang D, Todd PA (2021). Among-genotype responses of the coral Pocillopora acuta to emersion: implications for the ecological engineering of artificial coastal defences. Marine Environmental Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2021.105312

*co-first author; corresponding author

Poquita-Du RC, Goh YL, Huang D, Chou LM, Todd PA (2020). Gene expression and photophysiological changes in Pocillopora acuta following heat stress and recovery. Microorganisms, 8(8), 1227, https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8081227

Poquita-Du RC, Huang D, Chou LM, Todd PA (2020). The contribution of stress-tolerant endosymbiotic dinoflagellate Durusdinium to Pocillopora acuta survival in a highly urbanized reef system. Coral Reefs, 39, 745-755, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-01902-0 

Poquita-Du RC, Huang D, Chou LM, Mrinalini, Todd PA (2019). Short term exposure to heat and sediment triggers changes in coral gene expression and photo-physiological performance. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, 121, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00121

Poquita-Du RC, Quek R, Jain SS, Schmidt-Roach S, Tun K, Heery EC, Chou LM, Todd PA, Huang D (2019) Last species standing: loss of Pocilloporidae corals associated with coastal urbanization in a tropical city state. Marine Biodiversity https://doi-org/10.1007/s12526-019-00939-x

Poquita-Du RC, Ng CSL, Loo JB, Afiq-Rosli L, Tay YC, Todd PA, Chou LM, Huang D (2017). New evidence shows that Pocillopora ‘damicornis-like’ corals in Singapore are actually Pocillopora acuta (Scleractinia: Pocilloporidae). Bioversity Data Journal 5: e11407 https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.5.e11407

Poquita-Du RC, Todd PA (2015) Understanding harmful algal bloom (HAB) occurrences in Manila Bay, Philippines. In: Sustainability Matters: Environmental and Climate Changes in the Asia Pacific. Lye LH, Savage VR, Kua HW, Chou LM and Tan PY (Eds), pp.3- 32