An Electrochemical Approach to Understanding Coral Bleaching

珊瑚白化是气候变化造成的一种日益严重的灾难。珊瑚动物依靠与细胞内的甲藻共生。甲藻为宿主提供光合作用固定的碳，并获得其他营养物质和身体保护。这种共生在某些条件下被破坏，包括温度升高，导致甲藻排出和漂白。所有的光合作用微生物都表现出外生电作用，光合作用产生的电子以细胞外的形式输出。该项目将开发电化学方法来测量甲藻共生生物的外电生成作用，该属的成员与珊瑚共生。它将研究外部压力如何干扰光合作用，通过外生电作用影响氧化还原信号。有几个光合作用直接受损的突变细胞系；这些将被纳入这项研究。总体而言，该项目将提供光合作用干扰如何影响甲藻与其宿主之间的氧化还原交换的直接指示。

Coral bleaching is a growing catastrophe resulting from climate change. Coral animals rely on symbiosis with intracellular dinoflagellate algae. The dinoflagellates provide the host with photosynthetically fixed carbon, and receive other nutrients and physical protection in return. This symbiosis breaks down under some conditions, including raised temperatures, resulting in expulsion of the dinoflagellates and bleaching. All photosynthetic microorganisms exhibit exoelectrogenesis, where electrons from photosynthesis are exported extracellularly. The project will develop electrochemical approaches for measuring exoelectrogenesis by the dinoflagellate Symbiodinium, the genus whose members form symbiosis with corals. It will study how external stresses may disturb photosynthesis, affecting redox signalling via exoelectrogenesis. Several mutant cell lines are available in which photosynthesis has been directly compromised; these will be included in the study. Overall, the project will provide direct indications of how disturbance of photosynthesis affects the redox exchange between dinoflagellates and their hosts.