Multifunctional porous Si nanostructure is designed to optically monitor enzymatic activity of horseradish peroxidase. First, an oxidized PSi optical nanostructure, a Fabry-Pérot thin film, is synthesized and is used as the optical transducer element. Immobilization of the enzyme onto the nanostructure is performed through DNA-directed immobilization. Preliminary studies demonstrate high enzyma...

Climate change is now the leading cause of coral-reef degradation and is altering the adaptive landscape of coral populations1,2. Increasing sea temperatures and declining carbonate saturation states are inhibiting short-term rates of coral calcification, carbonate precipitation and submarine cementation3–5. A critical challenge to coral-reef conservation is understanding the mechanisms by whic...

In this work firstly CoFe2O4 nanoparticles were synthesized via a hydrothermal method. The temperature, surfactant and capping agent effects on the size of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles were investigated. 2-hydroxyacetophenone used as a good capping agent to produce cubic-like nanostructure. When SDBS used as surfactant, particles had spherical morphology. Nanoparticle was studied by scanning electron ...

In spite of the wealth of research on the Great Barrier Reef, few detailed biodiversity assessments of its inshore coral communities have been conducted. Effective conservation and management of marine ecosystems begins with fine-scale biophysical assessments focused on diversity and the architectural species that build the structural framework of the reef. In this study, we investigate key cor...

Coral reefs, and the unique ecosystems they support, are facing severe threats by human activities and climate change. Our understanding of these threats is hampered by the lack of robust approaches for studying the micro-scale interactions between corals and their environment. Here we present an experimental platform, coral-on-a-chip, combining micropropagation and microfluidics to allow direc...

Increasing evidence has revealed that the surface characteristics of biomaterials, such as chemical composition, stiffness, and topography, especially nanotopography, significantly influence cell growth and differentiation. In this study, we examined the effect of surface biomimetic apatite nanostructure of a new hydroxyapatite-coated genipin-chitosan conjugation scaffold (HGCCS) on cell shape,...

Coral reef ecosystems thrive in tropical oligotrophic oceans because of the relationship between corals and endosymbiotic dinoflagellate algae called Symbiodinium. Symbiodinium convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into organic carbon and oxygen to fuel coral growth and calcification, creating habitat for these diverse and productive ecosystems. Light is thus a key regulating factor shaping the p...

The structure of coral reef habitat has a pronounced influence on the diversity, composition and abundance of reef-associated fishes. However, the particular features of the habitat that are most critical are not always known. Coral habitats can vary in many characteristics, notably live coral cover, topographic complexity and coral diversity, but the relative effects of these habitat character...

Superhydrophobic poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) surface with nanostructure was prepared effectively via phase separation and selective solvent method. It is proposed that the cooperation of the nanostructure of PMMA surface and the surface group reorientation leads to the superhydrophobicity of PMMA surface. The superhydrophobic PMMA surface with nanostructure was characterized by scanning ele...

Zooxanthellate corals have long been known to calcify faster in the light than in the dark, however the mechanism underlying this process has been uncertain. Here we tested the effects of oxygen under controlled pCO2 conditions and fixed carbon sources on calcification in zooxanthellate and bleached microcolonies of the branching coral Stylophora pistillata. In zooxanthellate microcolonies, oxy...