Corals are"part animal, part plant, and part rock -- and Hard to work out, despite being studied for decades," states Philippe Laissue at the University of Essex, a Whitman Scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory. Most corals are sensitive to bright light, so getting their dynamics with conventional microscopes is a struggle.

To work about their photosensitivity, Laissue developed a Habit light-sheet microscope (the L-SPI) which allows gentle, non-invasive observation of corals and their polyps in detail over eight continuous hours, at high resolution. He and his colleagues, including MBL Associate Scientist and coral biologist Loretta Roberson, released their findings this week at Scientific Reports.

<span style="color: #ff6600;"><a style="color: #ff6600;" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67144-w">Coral reefs, made up of countless Small units called polyps, Are extremely important ecosystems, both for marine life and also for people.</a></span> They harbor hundreds of marine species, providing food and financial aid for countless millions of individuals. They also protect coasts from floods and waves, and hold excellent potential for pharmaceutical and biotechnological discovery.

<span style="color: #ff6600;"><a style="color: #ff6600;" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67144-w">But over half the world's coral reefs are at severe decline. Climate change and other human influences are gravely endangering their survival. As sea temperatures rise, coral bleaching is afflicting reefs worldwide.</a></span>

Connection between the coral host, the symbiotic algae living in their tissues, along with the calcium carbonate skeleton that they construct instantly," Roberson says. "We can now track the fate of this algae during [coral] bleaching as well as through initiation of their symbiosis."
Roberson can be utilizing Laissue's imaging technology to measure Damage to corals in"bioeroders" -- biological agents like algae And sponges that break down a coral sword, a difficulty exacerbated by ocean Acidification and increasing water temperatures.

<strong>Story Source:</strong>

<span style="color: #ff6600;"><a style="color: #ff6600;" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67144-w">Materials</a></span> provided by Marine Biological Laboratory. Original written by Diana Kenney and Content may be edited for style and length.

<strong>Journal Reference:</strong>

Pierre Philippe Laissue, Loretta Roberson, Yan Gu, Chen Qian, David J. Smith. Long-term imaging of the photosensitive, reef-building coral Acropora muricata using light-sheet illumination. Scientific Reports, 2020; 10 (1) <span style="color: #ff6600;"><a style="color: #ff6600;" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67144-w">DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-67144-w</a></span>