 Britain and Ireland have an incredible diversity of wildlife. The Darwin Tree of Life project will collect, sequence and assemble the genomes for 70,000 species on and around our islands, from fungi to algae and seaweed to starfish. Every living thing has a genome. This is like a blueprint containing all the information needed to make the organism and allow it to function. The collection of these genomes will create a vast reference library for anyone to access, anywhere in the world, which can be used by scientists to better understand our planet. Here at the Marine Biological Association, we are collecting, identifying and barcoding marine organisms from around our shores. So far, we have collected around 600 species from over 300 different families, including microbial marine fungi and phytoplankton to kelps and lichen, sea sponges and fish. The Marine Biological Association is already using this data for exciting new research. Our first species to be sequenced from the Marine Biological Association samples is the grey topshell steronphilus in our area. The grey topshell is a hardy animal and can survive at a range of temperatures. The Marine Biological Association's Marklin Project collects information about key species like this topshell to study how they may react to climate change. For 20 years, Dr. Nova Miaskowska has surveyed up to 100 marine sites around the UK coastline, tracking the changes in populations of 82 species of invertebrates and seaweeds. Nova's work on the grey topshell has shown that it responds better to climate change compared to some other rock pool species. The Darwin Tree of Life Project can provide new information for the Marklin Project on the resilience of these species in a warming world. One of the other genomes currently in the pipeline is from the marine lichen Lycanopygmaea. Lichens are fungi that host symbiotic communities of photosynthetic algae and other microbes that work together to survive. Lycanopygmaea is an unusual lichen species because it is found on the rocky seashore. A harsh end tidal zone where having multiple algal partners is possibly an advantage for survival. Historically it was thought that the Lycanopygmaea symbiosis was just one alga living together with the fungus. Recent research at the Marine Biological Association has shown that Lycanopygmaea has in fact multiple different algal symbiotes, some with marine and some with freshwater origins. They are now investigating how the different algal symbiotes are interacting within the lichen throughout the contrasting tidal cycle of seawater submersion, drying sun and the rain. Like the topshell, the genome sequence brings new understandings of how the lichen responds to environmental conditions. But additionally, the genomes of the symbiotes within the lichen can help us understand how a complex community like a lichen can work together to survive. The Marine Biological Association team have so far collected more than 100 species of seaweed for the Darwin Tree of Life project. We are not just interested in the seaweeds themselves, but also the fungi that live inside them. Some seaweed associated fungi have been shown to promote seaweed growth and survival. Other seaweed associated fungi are likely parasites that have a negative impact. The Marine Biological Association Marine Fungal Culture Collection is home to over 500 species of marine fungi, many of which have been isolated from seaweeds. Compared to terrestrial fungal groups, not much is known about marine fungi. Researchers at the Marine Biological Association are harnessing the diverse collection of Darwin Tree of Life seaweeds and meta-barcoding the DNA from more than 90 samples to identify which specific fungi are living within them. Our researchers can search for the fungal genes in each seaweed sample to identify all the fungi they contain. This will show us the diversity of fungi living within the seaweeds and should help us understand the role they play. Another species, which we're excited to have a genome from, is the marine yeast, Murchinacawia zebelli. This yeast was originally isolated from the site of Channel Rack Seaweed and is one of the many species of marine fungi cultivated in the Marine Fungal Culture Collection at the Marine Biological Association. The L4 databoy lays 14 kilometres away from Plymouth in the English Channel and has been collecting measurements of ocean temperature changes, ocean chemistry and plankton populations for over 30 years. Recent research from the Cunliffe Research Group at the Marine Biological Association has found that the annual population changes in copepods, a tiny crustacean which young fish populations feed on, strongly correlates with population changes in Murchinacawia zebelli. The freshwater relative Murchinacawia bicuspidata is a parasite of water fleas, Daphnia species. The yeasts have a harpoon-like sport which pierces the shells of their prey and infects them from the inside. Other previous research has found marine copepods infected with Murchinacawia zebelli. Researchers in the Cunliffe Group are keen to test this and find out how infection drives changes in zoo plankton populations and potentially the fisheries which rely on the plankton. There is very little known about the roles of marine fungi in the environment and having some genomic data to work with will help with finding out the genetic markers which might link to these ecological processes. These four genome studies and all of the genomes collected for the project help us to uncover the mysteries within cells, understand how organisms respond to climate change and answer fundamental questions about symbiosis and evolution. There are thousands more genomes to explore, a whole planet of researchers and limitless fundamental questions about life and environmental and technological challenges ahead of us. This project pushes genome science forward in huge leaps and bounds but it's also novel for its new ways of working collaboratively, managing, storing and sharing huge amounts of data. Ultimately, it offers opportunities for people beyond research in the fields of AI, computing, data and more. This library of genomes will be a goldmine of information to inspire new generations of researchers.