A paper on the genome of Z. marina was released early this year. This is the first marine angiosperm genome to be sequenced, and since it’s our main host organism, we are fairly excited. This opens up a couple research possibilities, like studying host-microbe coevolution between Z. marina and its microbiome. We can also use the plant reference genome with RNA-seq data to filter out reads from the microbes, which will make it easier to look at the gene functions represented in the seagrass microbiome. Having a reference genome for our host will definitely come in handy, and has opened some exciting new doors for us.