Self-recognition in corals facilitates deep-sea habitat engineering.
Self-recognition in corals facilitates deep-sea habitat engineering.
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珊瑚的自我识别促进了深海栖息地工程。
DOI：
10.1038/srep06782
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发表时间：
2014-10-27
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
Roberts JM
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hennige SJ;Morrison CL;Form AU;Büscher J;Kamenos NA;Roberts JM
珊瑚礁设计复杂三维栖息地的能力是它们成功及其支持的丰富生物多样性的核心。在热带珊瑚礁中，结壳的珊瑚藻类将底物和死珊瑚骨架结合在一起，形成连续的珊瑚礁结构，但在光带之外，冷水珊瑚Lophelia pertusa也在骨骼融合的促进下形成大型生物礁。热带珊瑚中的骨骼融合可以发生在亲缘关系密切的或幼年个体中，这是非侵略性骨骼过度生长或同种异体组织融合的结果，但在许多物种中，如果在广泛的物种水平上没有‘自我认识’，接触反应会导致死亡。这项研究揭示了Pertusa Lophelia的“完美”骨骼融合区域，可能是由同种异体组织融合促进的，被确定为具有小的文石晶体或低水平的晶体组织，以及强烈的分子键。无论机制如何，在能源保护至关重要的环境中，相邻的Pertusa群体之间对“自我”的识别不会导致可观察到的死亡，有助于生态系统工程，并减少与攻击相关的能量消耗。在物种一级进行自我识别的潜力，以及随后在形成骨架的冷水珊瑚中的骨骼融合，是理解它们作为世界深海生态工程师的重要意义的重要第一步。
The ability of coral reefs to engineer complex three-dimensional habitats is central to their success and the rich biodiversity they support. In tropical reefs, encrusting coralline algae bind together substrates and dead coral framework to make continuous reef structures, but beyond the photic zone, the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa also forms large biogenic reefs, facilitated by skeletal fusion. Skeletal fusion in tropical corals can occur in closely related or juvenile individuals as a result of non-aggressive skeletal overgrowth or allogeneic tissue fusion, but contact reactions in many species result in mortality if there is no ‘self-recognition’ on a broad species level. This study reveals areas of ‘flawless’ skeletal fusion in Lophelia pertusa, potentially facilitated by allogeneic tissue fusion, are identified as having small aragonitic crystals or low levels of crystal organisation, and strong molecular bonding. Regardless of the mechanism, the recognition of ‘self’ between adjacent L. pertusa colonies leads to no observable mortality, facilitates ecosystem engineering and reduces aggression-related energetic expenditure in an environment where energy conservation is crucial. The potential for self-recognition at a species level, and subsequent skeletal fusion in framework-forming cold-water corals is an important first step in understanding their significance as ecological engineers in deep-seas worldwide.