Coral Bleaching Independent of Photosynthetic Activity

Coral Bleaching Independent of Photosynthetic Activity

The global decline of reef-building corals is due in part to the loss of algal symbionts, or "bleaching," during the increasingly frequent periods of high seawater temperatures. During bleaching, endosymbiotic dinoflagellate algae (Symbiodinium spp.) either are lost from the animal tissue or lose their photosynthetic pigments, resulting in host mortality if the Symbiodinium populations fail to ...

Coral Bleaching: Photosynthetic Impacts on Symbiotic Dinoflagellates

xxxviiiABSTRACT Global climate change is leading to the rise of ocean temperatures and is triggering masscoral bleaching events on reefs around the world. This involves the expulsion of thesymbiotic dinoflagellate algae, known as zooxanthellae, from the coral host. Coralbleaching is believed to occur as a result of damage to the photosynthetic apparatus ofthese symbionts...

Inhibition of photosynthetic CO₂ fixation in the coral Pocillopora damicornis and its relationship to thermal bleaching.

Two inhibitors of the Calvin-Benson cycle [glycolaldehyde (GA) and potassium cyanide (KCN)] were used in cultured Symbiodinium cells and in nubbins of the coral Pocillopora damicornis to test the hypothesis that inhibition of the Calvin-Benson cycle triggers coral bleaching. Inhibitor concentration range-finding trials aimed to determine the appropriate concentration to generate inhibition of t...

Temperature Stress and Coral Bleaching

Coral bleaching--how and why?

Bleaching refers to the loss of colour in symbioses between dinoflagellate algae of the genus Symbiodinium and marine benthic animals, e.g. corals. Bleaching generally results in depressed growth and increased mortality, and it can be considered as a deleterious physiological response or ailment. An explanatory framework for the causes of bleaching comprises three elements: the external factors...