{"id":5735,"date":"2017-08-08T17:07:48","date_gmt":"2017-08-08T12:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cawater-info.net\/all_about_water\/en\/?p=5735"},"modified":"2017-08-08T17:07:48","modified_gmt":"2017-08-08T12:07:48","slug":"get-the-glow-the-secret-to-deep-water-corals-radiance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.cawater-info.net\/all_about_water\/en\/?p=5735","title":{"rendered":"Get the glow: the secret to deep-water corals\u2019 radiance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers have pinpointed the reason that deep-water corals emit an eerie glow: to help their algae do photosynthesis.<\/em><\/p>\n

Scientists know that in shallow waters, the organisms light up green, using fluorescent proteins as a kind of sun block. The proteins soak up harmful ultraviolet rays, re-emit green light and shield their symbiotic algae, which supply most of the corals\u2019 energy needs through photosynthesis.<\/p>\n

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In 2015, a team led by J\u00f6rg Wiedenmann at the University of Southampton, UK, found that\u00a0deep-dwelling corals also fluoresce\u00a0\u2014 this time in an array of vivid yellows, oranges and reds. Some of these organisms live in water as deep as 165 metres, where little sunlight reaches them, and most of what does is in the blue part of the spectrum. So the researchers suspected a different reason for the glow.<\/p>\n

Now, Wiedenmann thinks his team has the answer: the corals use a fluorescent protein to make the most of the small amount of light available in their habitats for photosynthesis. In other words, the deep-water corals and their shallow relatives fluoresce for opposite reasons.<\/p>\n

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Blue light is more useful for photosynthesis, but red light penetrates farther into coral tissues. So corals use a red fluorescent protein to convert the blue light into orange\u2013red wavelengths. That means it reaches more of the organisms\u2019 symbiotic algae, helping the corals to survive by making as much food as possible through photosynthesis. The researchers\u2019 work is published in\u00a0Proceedings of the Royal Society B1.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorals need special features to adjust to life in these low-light depths for the benefit of their vital photosynthetic partners,\u201d says Wiedenmann. The finding \u201cshows how sophisticated the symbiosis between corals and their algal partners can be\u201d.<\/p>\n

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As researchers worry about the fate of the world\u2019s corals after a\u00a0spate of bleaching events\u00a0caused by rising water temperatures, some marine scientists have suggested that stressed shallow-water corals could adapt and find refuge in deeper waters.<\/p>\n

However, says Wiedenmann, the study shows that the protein pigments expressed by shallow corals are \u201cbiochemically and optically distinct\u201d from those of their deep-dwelling counterparts. \u201cNot many of them may have the capacity to escape to deeper waters,\u201d he says. \u201cWe need to make sure that reefs in shallow water stay habitable for corals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source:\u00a0http:\/\/www.nature.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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