MA Jiaxin

Profile

Ka Yan MA
Gender: Female
Mentor type: PhD Mentor
Email: majx26@mail.sysu.edu.cn
Webpage: https: //abel-sysu.github.io/en/

Research interests

We have a broad interest in the biology, biodiversity, and evolution of aquatic fauna. Based in Southern China, our lab has a strong focus on Indo-West Pacific fauna that is highly diverse - ecologically and phylogenetically - while also increasingly threatened due to global climate change and local development. We strive to unveil the fascinating biology, diversification history, and adaptive features of diverse fauna in this marine and freshwater biodiversity hotspot.
Ongoing projects include:
•    Phylogenomics and phylohysiology of crustaceans
•    Biogeography and evolution of freshwater decapods
•    Phylogeny and phylogeography of reef fish
For more information: https: //abel-sysu.github.io/en/join/
 

Education

•  2015 PhD in Marine Biology: James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
•  2009 MPhil in Biology: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
•  2006 BSc in Biology: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Work experience

• 2020.10-present Associate Professor @ Sun Yat-sen University, China
• 2018-2020.10 Postdoctoral fellow @ The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
• 2015-2018 Research Associate @ The Chinese University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong, China
• 2009-2010 Research Assistant @ University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Academic achievements

Awards: 

• 2012 Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Award, in the category of Natural Sciences (Second Class), from the Ministry of Education, China (3^rd member)

• 2010 - 2014 James Cook University International Research Scholar

• 2008 Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Research Fellowship

Major academic affiliations: 

• Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Member of the China Species Specialist Group, and the Grouper and Wrasse Specialist Group
• Reviewer for journals including Ecology and Evolution, Frontiers in Marine Science, Journal of Crustacean Biology, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, PLOS One, Royal Society Open Science, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Zoological Scripta, and Zoological Studies
• Review Editor of Frontiers in Marine Science (Marine Molecular Biology and Ecology section) and Topic Editor of Frontiers in Genetics

Grants

• National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Youth Science Fund Project: "Historical biogeography of potamid crabs in Southern China: a phylogenomic perspective ", January 2023 – December 2025, In Progress, Principal Investigator
• Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation, Youth Fund Project: "Exploring the spatiotemporal pattern of adaptive evolution of Thoracotremata crabs using phylogenomics", October 2021 – September 2024, In Progress, Principal Investigator

Publications

Publication list (46 international research papers): 

• https: //www.researchgate.net/profile/Kayan_Ma

• https: //orcid.org/0000-0001-5690-2319

Representative papers (*Corresponding author；†Co-first author): 

• Yu HY, Chu KH, Tsang LM, Ma KY* (2024) Incomplete lineage sorting and long-branch attraction confound phylogenomic inference of Pancrustacea. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 12,1243221.

• Wu Z, Chu KH, Ma KY* (2023) Transcriptome analysis of multiple tissues in the shrimp Penaeus vannamei reveals the typical physiological response to three pathogens. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 11, 389.

• Yang CH†, Ma KY†, Chu KH, Chan TY (2023) Making sense of the taxonomy of the most commercially important shrimps Penaeus Fabricius, 1798 s.l. (Crustacea:Decapoda:Penaeidae), a way forward. Aquaculture, 563, 738955.

• Mu X*, Yang Y, Sun J, … Ma KY* (2022) FishPIE:A universal phylogenetically informative exon markers set for ray-finned fishes. iScience, 25, 105025. 

• Chow LH, Tsang LM, Chu KH, Ma KY* (2022) Genetic assessment of the rare freshwater shrimp Caridina logemanni endemic to Hong Kong and its hybridisation with a widespread congener. https: //doi.org/10.1071/MF21192

• Ma KY, Chow LH, Tsang LM, De Grave S, Chu KH (2021) Contrasting population structures of freshwater atyid shrimps in Hong Kong and their conservation implications. Marine and Freshwater Research. 72, 1667-1678

• Cui Z, Liu Y, Yuan J, Zhang X, Ventura T, Ma KY… Li F, Chu KH (2021) The Chinese mitten crab genome provides insights into adaptive plasticity and developmental regulation. Nature Communications. 12, 2395.

• Veldsman WP, Ma KY, Hui JH, Chan TF, Baeza JA, Qin J, Chu KH. (2021) Comparative genomics of the coconut crab and other decapod crustaceans:exploring the molecular basis of terrestrial adaptation. BMC Genomics. 22(1): 1-5.

• Tang Y, Ma KY, Cheung MK, Yang C-H, Wang Y, Hu X, Kwan HS, Chu KH (2021) Gut microbiota in decapod shrimps:evidence of phylosymbiosis. Microbial Ecology. https: //doi.org/10.1007/s00248-021-01720-z

• Leung TY, Ma KY*, Liu M, Planes S, de Mitcheson SY (2020) Population genetic structure of a marine pelagic egg producer and popular marine aquarium species, the mandarinfish Synchiropus splendidus. Zoological Studies. 59, 68.

• Zhang X, Yuan J, Sun Y … Ma KY… Chu KH, Liu B, Li F, Xiang J (2019) Penaeid shrimp genome provides insights into benthic adaptation and frequent molting. Nature Communications. 10, 356.

• Ma KY, Qin J, Lin C-W, Chan T-Y, Ng PKL, Chu KH, Tsang LM (2019) Phylogenomic analyses of brachyuran crabs reveal a paraphyletic Heterotremata and support early divergence of primary freshwater crabs. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 135, 62-66.

• Ma KY, Colin PL, Sadovy de Mitcheson Y, Dawson MN (2019) Phylogeography and Conservation Biogeography of the Humphead Wrasse, Cheilinus undulatus. Frontiers of Biogeography, 11, http: //dx.doi.org/10.21425/F5FBG42697.

• Ma KY, van Herwerden L, Newman SJ, Berumen ML, Choat JH, Chu KH, Sadovy de Mitcheson Y (2018) Contrasting population genetic structure in three aggregating groupers (Percoidei:Epinephelidae) in the Indo-West Pacific:the importance of reproductive mode. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 18, 180.

• Ma KY†, Chow LH†, Wong KJH, Chen H-N, Ip, BHY, Schubart CD, Tsang LM, Chan BKK, Chu KH (2018) Speciation pattern of the horned ghost crab Ocypode ceratophthalmus (Pallas, 1772):an evaluation of the drivers of Indo-Pacific marine biodiversity using a widely distributed species. Journal of Biogeography, 45, 2658-2668.

• Ma KY and Craig MT (2018) An inconvenient monophyly:an update on the taxonomy of the groupers (Epinephelidae). Copeia, 106, 443-456.

• Chow LH, Ma KY*, Hui JH, Chu KH (2018) Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci for Caridina cantonensis and transferability across eight confamilial species (Atyidae, Decapoda). Zoological Studies, 57, 19.

• Qin J, Hu Y, Ma KY, Jiang X, Ho CH, Tsang LM, Yi L, Leung RWT, Chu KH (2017) CrusTF: a comprehensive resource of transcriptomes for evolutionary and functional studies of crustacean transcription factors. BMC Genomics, 18, 908.

• Wong WY, Ma KY*, Tsang LM, Chu KH (2017) Genetic legacy of tertiary climatic change: a case study of two freshwater loaches, Schistura fasciolata and Pseudogastromyzon myersi, in Hong Kong. Heredity, 119, 360-370.

• Ma KY*, Craig MT, Choat JH, van Herwerden L (2016) The historical biogeography of groupers: clade diversification patterns and processes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 100, 21-30.