Reef-building corals farm and feed on their photosynthetic symbionts.

ABSTRACT: Coral reefs are highly diverse ecosystems that thrive in nutrient-poor waters, a phenomenon frequently referred to as the Darwin paradox¹. The energy demand of coral animal hosts can often be fully met by the excess production of carbon-rich photosynthates by their algal symbionts^2,3. However, the understanding of mechanisms that enable corals to acquire the vital nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus from their symbionts is incomplete^4-9. Here we show, through a series of long-term experiments, that the uptake of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus by the symbionts alone is sufficient to sustain rapid coral growth. Next, considering the nitrogen and phosphorus budgets of host and symbionts, we identify that these nutrients are gathered through symbiont

SUBMITTER: Wiedenmann J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10468396 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature