Zooxanthelle are single cell algal protists in the Genus: Symbiodinium. The study of their biology is driven largely by a desire to understand global coral reef decline. A chief mechanism for widespread reef degradation has been stress-induced coral bleaching caused by unusually high seawater temperature. Bleaching is defined as the disassociation of the coral and the symbiont and/or loss of chlorophyll within the alga, resulting in a precipitous loss in the animal’s brown pigmentation. The magnitude of mortality from a single bleaching event can be global in scale, and these episodes are predicted to become more common and severe as temperatures worldwide continue to rise. The physiology of a resident Symbiodinium species often regulates the bleaching susceptibility of a coral. Therefore a significant amount of research has focused on characterizing the physiological basis of thermal tolerance and in identifying the ecology and distribution of thermally tolerant symbiont species.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 14:04:02 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015