Not always sure where to post these types of articles in R2R. Since this one is biochemistry rich, I'll put it here (feel free to move this Randy if it's not appropriate to this forum).
Fascinating information in this article. While it has been known for quite a while that the host coral animal regulates the quantity of nitrogen that the algae symbiont receives, what is newly known is that the amount varies over the diel (24 hr.) cycle. Turns out that most of the nitrogen is delivered during the day and then restricted at night. And we now know that a specific protein and it's relative quantity is responsible for this nitrogen transfer. And showing the same daily 'feast or famine' for the algae as nitrogen, carbon.
The 'Brief' version:
https://phys.org/news/2022-03-advanced-imaging-reveals-cellular-molecular.html
The 'Full Monti' (see what I did there
) version:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abm0303
Scientific papers are very interesting in their own right, but for reef keepers the question most would ask is: 'How is this all relevant to our keeping of the coral animal?'
We've known that an extended 'day' light cycle is not good for corals (variously stated as corals need a 'rest period'), but here we see that the delivery of too much nitrogen over a longer than normal day period is at the very least least a contributing factor to negative outcomes such as the coral bleaching, reduced resistance to disease, etc.
Conversely, too short a light period would theoretically result in not enough nitrogen being delivered to the symbiotic algae for optimal health and growth.
It's a long, in depth article that likely has more nuggets to mine
Ralph.
Fascinating information in this article. While it has been known for quite a while that the host coral animal regulates the quantity of nitrogen that the algae symbiont receives, what is newly known is that the amount varies over the diel (24 hr.) cycle. Turns out that most of the nitrogen is delivered during the day and then restricted at night. And we now know that a specific protein and it's relative quantity is responsible for this nitrogen transfer. And showing the same daily 'feast or famine' for the algae as nitrogen, carbon.
The 'Brief' version:
https://phys.org/news/2022-03-advanced-imaging-reveals-cellular-molecular.html
The 'Full Monti' (see what I did there
) version:https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abm0303
Scientific papers are very interesting in their own right, but for reef keepers the question most would ask is: 'How is this all relevant to our keeping of the coral animal?'
We've known that an extended 'day' light cycle is not good for corals (variously stated as corals need a 'rest period'), but here we see that the delivery of too much nitrogen over a longer than normal day period is at the very least least a contributing factor to negative outcomes such as the coral bleaching, reduced resistance to disease, etc.
Conversely, too short a light period would theoretically result in not enough nitrogen being delivered to the symbiotic algae for optimal health and growth.
It's a long, in depth article that likely has more nuggets to mine
Ralph.
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