Bleaching forces coral's heterotrophy on diazotrophs and Synechococcus.

ABSTRACT: Coral reefs are threatened by global warming, which disrupts the symbiosis between corals and their photosynthetic symbionts (Symbiodiniaceae), leading to mass coral bleaching. Planktonic diazotrophs or dinitrogen (N₂)-fixing prokaryotes are abundant in coral lagoon waters and could be an alternative nutrient source for corals. Here we incubated untreated and bleached coral colonies of Stylophora pistillata with a ¹⁵N₂-pre-labelled natural plankton assemblage containing diazotrophs. ¹⁵N₂ assimilation rates in Symbiodiniaceae cells and tissues of bleached corals were 5- and 30-fold higher, respectively, than those measured in untreated corals, demonstrating that corals incorporate more nitrogen derived from planktonic diazotrophs under

SUBMITTER: Meunier V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6794269 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature