Morpho-functional traits of the coral Stylophora pistillata enhance light capture for photosynthesis at mesophotic depths.
Commun Biol
; 5(1): 861, 2022 08 24.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36002592
ABSTRACT
The morphological architecture of photosynthetic corals modulates the light capture and functioning of the coral-algal symbiosis on shallow-water corals. Since corals can thrive on mesophotic reefs under extreme light-limited conditions, we hypothesized that microskeletal coral features enhance light capture under low-light environments. Utilizing micro-computed tomography scanning, we conducted a novel comprehensive three-dimensional (3D) assessment of the small-scale skeleton morphology of the depth-generalist coral Stylophora pistillata collected from shallow (4-5 m) and mesophotic (45-50 m) depths. We detected a high phenotypic diversity between depths, resulting in two distinct morphotypes, with calyx diameter, theca height, and corallite marginal spacing contributing to most of the variation between depths. To determine whether such depth-specific morphotypes affect coral light capture and photosynthesis on the corallite scale, we developed 3D simulations of light propagation and photosynthesis. We found that microstructural features of corallites from mesophotic corals provide a greater ability to use solar energy under light-limited conditions; while corals associated with shallow morphotypes avoided excess light through self-shading skeletal architectures. The results from our study suggest that skeleton morphology plays a key role in coral photoadaptation to light-limited environments.
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1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Antozoários
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article