A novel mechanism for host-mediated photoprotection in endosymbiotic foraminifera.

ABSTRACT: Light underpins the health and function of coral reef ecosystems, where symbiotic partnerships with photosynthetic algae constitute the life support system of the reef. Decades of research have given us detailed knowledge of the photoprotective capacity of phototrophic organisms, yet little is known about the role of the host in providing photoprotection in symbiotic systems. Here we show that the intracellular symbionts within the large photosymbiotic foraminifera Marginopora vertebralis exhibit phototactic behaviour, and that the phototactic movement of the symbionts is accomplished by the host, through rapid actin-mediated relocation of the symbionts deeper into the cavities within the calcium carbonate test. Using a photosynthetic inhibitor, we identified that the infochemical signalli

SUBMITTER: Petrou K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5270569 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature